Seaport Res Ptn Has Positive Forecast for Ecolab Q1 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn boosted their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Ecolab in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now anticipates 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.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ECL opened at $238.00 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $218.19 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 276.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,290,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,830,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Ecolab by 797.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 56,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,368,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. 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.