FY2025 Earnings Forecast for Ecolab Issued By William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair has revised its FY2025 earnings per share estimate for Ecolab to $7.51, slightly down from a previous estimate of $7.52, while the consensus estimate remains at $7.54 per share.
• Ecolab reported quarterly earnings of $1.89 per share, missing expectations by $0.01, with revenues of $4.03 billion.
• Despite recent downgrades from some analysts, Ecolab holds a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average target price of $290.71.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Investment analysts at William Blair lowered their FY2025 EPS estimates for Ecolab in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 29th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now expects that the basic materials company will earn $7.51 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $7.52. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab's Q4 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.43 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $290.71.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $1.82 on Friday, hitting $266.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 591,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,322,839. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $266.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.92. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $274.17. The stock has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.