Seaport Res Ptn Comments on Ecolab’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECLFree Report) – Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings of $1.50 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.54. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.62 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab’s FY2026 earnings at $8.47 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECLGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.47.

View Our Latest Report on Ecolab

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $241.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 61.5% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Ecolab by 552.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 78,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,610,000 after acquiring an additional 66,210 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 89.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 77.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

About Ecolab

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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