Analysts Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) PT at $327.56

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $327.5556.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Zacks Research raised shares of Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Ecolab by 26,161.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 129,279,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,018,561,000 after purchasing an additional 128,787,212 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $6,422,340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,788,497,000 after buying an additional 4,110,472 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,635,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,472,599,000 after buying an additional 46,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,022,334,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $275.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $243.15 and a 52 week high of $309.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $278.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.88.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) provides water, hygiene, infection prevention and technology solutions to businesses and institutions worldwide. Its customers include restaurants, hotels, hospitals, manufacturers, food and beverage companies, retailers and other organizations that rely on safe, efficient and sustainable operating environments.

The company’s offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment and process-management systems, food-safety programs, infection-prevention solutions and pest-elimination services.