Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues Q1 2025 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) updated its first quarter 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.470-1.530 for the period, compared to the consensus 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 Down 0.8 %

ECL opened at $245.50 on Tuesday. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $201.99 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $69.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $241.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.97.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.