William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for Ecolab Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Analysts at William Blair lowered their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now anticipates that the basic materials company will earn $1.83 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.86. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.64 per share.

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

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $265.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $242.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $267.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 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.