Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Ecolab (ECL)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Ecolab (NYSE: ECL):

• 4/21/2025 – Ecolab was upgraded by analysts at Seaport Res Ptn from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 4/17/2025 – Ecolab had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $300.00 to $275.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2025 – Ecolab had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company. They now have a $240.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $265.00.
• 4/15/2025 – Ecolab had its price target lowered by analysts at Mizuho from $302.00 to $285.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/9/2025 – Ecolab had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $313.00 to $265.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/8/2025 – Ecolab had its price target lowered by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $305.00 to $275.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/2/2025 – Ecolab was given a new $277.00 price target on by analysts at Robert W. Baird.
• 3/24/2025 – Ecolab was downgraded by analysts at Redburn Atlantic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $270.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/20/2025 – Ecolab was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 3/12/2025 – Ecolab was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 3/3/2025 – Ecolab had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $295.00 to $305.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7 %

ECL stock opened at $238.08 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $219.97 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.01.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.