William Blair Has Negative Estimate for Ecolab Q2 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – William Blair decreased their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, February 11th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.83 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.86. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.64 per share.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $264.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $268.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,643,000. Wahed Invest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,480,000. South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 56,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,185,000 after acquiring an additional 3,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.