Erste Group Bank Has Negative View of Ecolab FY2026 Earnings

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Erste Group Bank lowered their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research report issued on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $8.15 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $8.24. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $8.14 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Ecolab’s FY2027 earnings at $9.40 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.29.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $275.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,684,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,741,000 after acquiring an additional 19,324 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michel D. Doukeris purchased 7,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.00 per share, with a total value of $1,999,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,108. This trade represents a 1,345.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Benjamin M. Clark purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $263.83 per share, with a total value of $263,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 1,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,727.89. This represents a 1,204.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.