William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of Ecolab Q2 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Research analysts at William Blair upped their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now forecasts that the basic materials company will earn $1.89 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.83. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab's Q3 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.04 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.34 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ECL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $252.62 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $249.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.90. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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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