Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Key Points

• Ecolab reported quarterly earnings of $1.89 EPS, missing analysts' expectations of $1.90 by $0.01.
• The company has updated its guidance for Q3 2025 and FY 2025, expecting EPS of $2.020-2.120 and $7.420-7.620 respectively.
• Ecolab's stock dropped 4.4% during trading hours, reaching $258.23, amid a market cap of $73.24 billion.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab updated its Q3 2025 guidance to 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 7.420-7.620 EPS.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $3.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $263.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,709,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,585. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $266.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.09. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $74.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Ecolab stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 164.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.47.

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.