Ecolab (ECL) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Ecolab, Inc. is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities. The company’s solutions are used to improve food safety, control infections, optimize water and energy use, extend equipment life, and meet regulatory and sustainability goals for customers operating in regulated and high‑risk environments.

Founded in the early 20th century and headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ecolab has grown through product development and strategic acquisitions to expand its capabilities in water treatment, hygiene and related digital monitoring services. Its business model emphasizes a combination of chemical and equipment sales, recurring service contracts, and technical consulting delivered by field personnel and digital platforms.

Innovation and sustainability are central themes in Ecolab’s positioning, with an emphasis on solutions that reduce water and energy consumption, minimize waste and lower customers’ environmental footprint while improving operational efficiency and safety. The company operates internationally and works with multinational and local customers to address industry‑specific challenges in sanitation, water management and infection prevention.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $261.65 to $265.79
• 50-Day Range: $256.55 to $308.08
• 52-Week Range: $249.04 to $309.27
• Volume: 1.69 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.37 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $74.49 billion
• P/E Ratio: 35.69
• Dividend Yield: 1.11%
• Price Target: $322.53
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Ecolab Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Ecolab scored higher than 98% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 5th out of 175 stocks in the basic materials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Ecolab has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.86, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 16 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Ecolab has a consensus price target of $322.53, representing about 22.3% upside from its current price of $263.76.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Ecolab has been the subject of 16 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 14.45%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Ecolab are expected to grow by 14.45% in the coming year, from $8.44 to $9.66 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Ecolab is 35.69, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.48.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Ecolab is 35.69, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Basic Materials sector average P/E ratio of about 21.77.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Ecolab has a PEG Ratio of 2.12. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Ecolab has a P/B Ratio of 7.43. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.18% of the float of Ecolab has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Ecolab has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.79, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Ecolab has recently increased by 11.51%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Ecolab pays a meaningful dividend of 1.14%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Ecolab has been increasing its dividend for 33 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Ecolab is 39.51%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Ecolab will have a dividend payout ratio of 30.23% next year. This indicates that Ecolab will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.85

News Sentiment

Ecolab has a news sentiment score of 0.85. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.56 average news sentiment score of Basic Materials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 24 news articles for Ecolab this week, compared to 8 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 15 people have searched for ECL on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -38% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

11 people have added Ecolab to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 267% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Ecolab insiders have sold 3,081.00% more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $205,528.00 in company stock and sold $6,537,855.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.50% of the stock of Ecolab is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

74.91% of the stock of Ecolab is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

ECL Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have ECL shares performed this year?

Ecolab's stock was trading at $262.67 at the beginning of 2026. Since then, ECL stock has increased by 0.4% and is now trading at $263.7610.

How were Ecolab's earnings last quarter?

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April, 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does Ecolab have any subsidiaries?

Ecolab subsidiaries include these companies: Purolite, EPN Water Col Ltd., National Wiper Alliance Inc., TechTex Holdings Limited, VanBaele Hygiene AG, CID Lines, Gallay Medical & Scientific Pty Ltd., and more.

Who are Ecolab's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Ecolab include Pictet Asset Management Holding SA (1.15%), Swedbank AB (0.61%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (0.54%) and Hsbc Holdings PLC (0.35%). Insiders that own company stock include William H Gates III, Christophe Beck, Arthur J Higgins, David Maclennan, Victoria Reich, Laurie M Marsh, Angela M Busch, Larry L Berger, Tracy B Mckibben, Suzanne M Vautrinot, Nicholas J Alfano, Gregory B Cook, Boo Alexander A De, Jennifer J Bradway, Machiel Duijser and Gail Peterson.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Ecolab?

Shares of ECL stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Ecolab own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Ecolab investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Broadcom (AVGO), Adobe (ADBE), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Arista Networks (ANET) and ServiceNow (NOW).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 4/15 Dividend: 3/17/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 4/15 Dividend: 3/17/2026
• Dividend Payable: 4/15/2026
• Last Earnings: 4/28/2026
• Today: 5/06/2026
• AGM 2026: 5/07/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Basic Materials
• Industry: CHEM - SPECIALTY
• Sub-Industry: Specialty Chemicals
• Current Symbol: NYSE:ECL
• CIK: 31462
• Web: www.ecolab.com
• Phone: (800) 232-6522
• Fax: 651-293-2092
• Employees: 48,000
• Year Founded: 1923

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Ecolab: $322.53
• High Price Target: $352.00
• Low Price Target: $285.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +22.3%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.86
• Research Coverage: 21 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $7.39
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 35.69
• Forward P/E Ratio: 31.25
• P/E Growth: 2.12
• Net Income: $2.08 billion
• Net Margins: 12.80%
• Pretax Margin: 15.78%
• Return on Equity: 22.64%
• Return on Assets: 9.05%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.69
• Current Ratio: 0.99
• Quick Ratio: 0.73

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $16.08 billion
• Price / Sales: 4.63
• Cash Flow: $11.44 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 23.06
• Book Value: $35.52 per share
• Price / Book: 7.43

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 282,420,000
• Free Float: 281,012,000
• Market Cap: $74.49 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.92