Seaport Res Ptn Has Negative Outlook of Ecolab Q2 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Ecolab in a report released on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.92 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.95. Seaport Res Ptn has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab's FY2025 earnings at $7.56 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group upped their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

Ecolab stock opened at $255.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $248.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 9.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $77,005,000 after acquiring an additional 16,747 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,792 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,984 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

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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