William Blair Has Positive Outlook of Ecolab FY2025 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Stock analysts at William Blair raised their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ecolab in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now expects that the basic materials company will earn $7.52 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $7.49. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.69 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.10 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.25 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ECL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $255.14 on Thursday. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $248.81 and a 200-day moving average of $247.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.