Seaport Res Ptn Weighs in on Ecolab's Q2 Earnings (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Seaport Res Ptn lifted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Ecolab in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.92 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.90. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab's Q3 2025 earnings at $2.05 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.51 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.49 EPS.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $267.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 924,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company's fifty day moving average price is $244.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.19. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $215.41 and a 52-week high of $268.00. The company has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.