Seaport Res Ptn Comments on Ecolab's Q1 Earnings (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn issued their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $1.76 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $6.64 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab's Q2 2026 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.29 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $1.18 on Friday, hitting $265.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,265,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,378. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $268.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $243.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.86. The company has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,263 shares of company stock worth $44,426,069. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

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.