Brokers Issue Forecasts for Ecolab’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – William Blair issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Ecolab in a research note issued on Tuesday, October 29th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney expects that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.48 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.65 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.84 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.96 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.97 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $245.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a one year low of $159.15 and a one year high of $262.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $1,194,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 283,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,653,000 after purchasing an additional 24,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.