Raymond James Financial Initiates Coverage on Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has initiated coverage on Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) with a "market perform" rating, reflecting a moderate outlook on the company's stock.
• Several analysts have varying target prices for Ecolab, with Wells Fargo setting a target of $260, while Mizuho increased theirs to $305, leading to a consensus average target price of $291.21 among analysts.
• Ecolab's shares were trading at $278.77, with the company reporting a quarterly earnings miss and a guidance for Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) range of 2.020-2.120.

Equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "market perform" rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.4130 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $278.7730. The stock had a trading volume of 26,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,239. Ecolab has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $79.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $270.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.20.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,644,987,000 after buying an additional 250,980 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,469,019,000 after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after buying an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 4.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $964,885,000 after buying an additional 145,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $906,900,000 after buying an additional 27,619 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

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.

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