Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates Q1 2025 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) updated its first quarter 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.470-1.530 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.490. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ecolab also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.420-7.620 EPS.

Ecolab Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $201.99 and a 12 month high of $267.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $242.06 and its 200-day moving average is $246.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.04% 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.