What is Seaport Res Ptn's Forecast for Ecolab Q1 Earnings?

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) - Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn increased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research note issued on Monday, April 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.51 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.50. Seaport Res Ptn currently has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current full-year earnings is $7.54 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab's Q2 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.07 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.59 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.58 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $240.00 price target (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $238.08. 899,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,150,582. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.11. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $218.25 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 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.