Q1 Earnings Forecast for Ecolab Issued By Seaport Res Ptn

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Seaport Res Ptn issued their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Ecolab in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison expects that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.76 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.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $242.98 and a 200 day moving average of $246.45. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $268.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) 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 return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%.

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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $521,399,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.