Ecolab Inc. (ECL) AI Stock Analysis

Ecolab Inc. provides comprehensive water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions worldwide. The company operates through three core segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. Global Industrial focuses on water treatment, process applications, and cleaning solutions for manufacturing, power generation, and food processing. Global Institutional & Specialty delivers specialized cleaning products to foodservice, hospitality, and government facilities. Global Healthcare & Life Sciences offers infection prevention and surgical products under brands such as Ecolab, Microtek, and Anios. Additionally, its Other segment provides pest elimination services and colloidal silica solutions.

Ecolab grew revenue from $12.73B in FY2021 to $16.08B in FY2025, posting a 5-year revenue CAGR of 6.4% from FY2020 to FY2025. Gross margin expanded from 41.0% in FY2021 to 44.5% in FY2025, while operating margin rose from 13.2% to 18.1%. Net income increased from $1.13B in FY2021 to $2.08B in FY2025, bringing EPS from $4.69 to $7.54. Free cash flow also expanded from $1.42B in FY2021 to $1.90B in FY2025. For the latest quarter ending June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue grew 9.7% year-over-year, while quarterly earnings grew 3.3% year-over-year.

As of June 30, 2026, Ecolab held $5.14B in cash and short-term investments against total debt of $13.75B, resulting in net debt of $8.62B. Total assets stood at $29.93B and shareholders' equity was $10.06B, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84. In FY2025, operating cash flow reached $2.95B. The company allocated capital toward $1.05B in capital expenditures, $783.8M in share buybacks, and $753.6M in dividends paid.

Ecolab trades at a trailing P/E of 38.8x and a forward P/E of 29.7x, both above the median of its S&P 500 Basic Materials peers at 30.9x and 13.6x, respectively. Its enterprise value to EBITDA ratio is 21.7x, compared to the peer median of 14.0x, and its price-to-sales ratio is 4.8x versus the peer median of 2.4x. Over the past year, Ecolab delivered a return of 7.9%, trailing the S&P 500 (SPY) return of 16.8%. Over five years, the stock returned 38.8%, below the 83.0% return of the S&P 500.

Ecolab pays a quarterly dividend with an annualized forward payout of $2.92, offering a dividend yield of 1.01%. The company maintains a payout ratio of 36.8% and has paid dividends for 42 consecutive years. Over the past five years, its annualized dividend growth was 7.2%, with the last ex-dividend date on September 15, 2026.

Wall Street analysts track Ecolab with 15 Strong Buy, 5 Buy, and 4 Hold ratings, with zero Sell or Strong Sell ratings. The mean price target is $325.05, representing a 12.5% upside over the last close of $288.89 on October 16, 2026. For the current fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, analysts estimate EPS of $8.16 on revenue of $17.92B. The company beat EPS estimates in 2 of the last 4 quarters, and its next earnings date is October 27, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Ecolab Inc. (ECL). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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