Seaport Res Ptn Has Positive Estimate for Ecolab Q2 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ecolab in a report issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.92 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.90. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.64 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS 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%.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ECL. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock 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 Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $265.92 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $243.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G 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.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake 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 during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.