Brokerages Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Target Price at $292.00

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $292.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $276.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $272.68 and a 200 day moving average of $262.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

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.