William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for Ecolab Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Analysts at William Blair increased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research note issued on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.50 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.49. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.64 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab’s Q3 2025 earnings at $2.10 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.49 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.40 EPS.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

ECL stock opened at $262.36 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $242.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $212.71 and a fifty-two week high of $267.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $330,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Ecolab by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.3% in the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.