# Ecolab Inc. (ECL)

> Source: Nexqual · https://nexqual.com/ECL · data as of 2026-10-22 20:01 UTC · cite as "Nexqual, Ecolab Inc. (ECL), nexqual.com/ECL" · informational, not investment advice.

**Price:** USD 292.3 (+1.46% on the day) · last close of Oct 22, 2026; US market pre market, not a live price. Prev close 288.09 · day 286.94–292.58 · 52w 243.15–309.27 · market cap $81.9B · NYQ

## Key facts
- Last four reported quarters (through Jun 30, 2026): revenue $16.8B, net income $2.12B (12.6% margin), free cash flow $1.87B (SEC filings).
- Valuation: P/E 38.7x (avg 36.4x at the last 3 fiscal year-ends), EV/EBITDA 25.3x, net debt $8.04B.
- 4 of 80 tracked superinvestors hold ECL (13F, Q2 2026): 0 new, 1 added, 1 reduced, 2 unchanged.
- Insider open-market sales, last ~7 months: 5 Form 4 filings, $10.1M; 5 not under a Rule 10b5-1 plan ($10.1M); 1 by opportunistic insiders (1 outside 10b5-1 plans), 0 by routine insiders (three-year test, Cohen, Malloy & Pomorski 2012).
- Insider open-market purchases, last ~7 months: 5 Form 4 filings, $3.7M; 0 by opportunistic insiders, 2 by routine insiders.
- Analysts: Buy (mean 1.96 on a 1–5 scale) (24 analysts), mean target USD 325.05 (range 295–360).
- Total return with dividends: 1Y +7.4% vs S&P 500 +14.9%; 5Y +39.6% vs S&P 500 +80.3%.
- Next earnings: 2026-10-27, EPS estimate USD 2.17, revenue estimate $4.70B.

## Financials (SEC 10-K; TTM = last four 10-Q/10-K quarters)
| USD | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | TTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.7B | $14.2B | $15.3B | $15.7B | $16.1B | $16.8B |
| Gross profit | $5.12B | $5.36B | $6.17B | $6.84B | $7.15B | — |
| Operating income | $1.60B | $1.56B | $1.99B | $2.80B | $2.74B | $2.85B |
| Net income | $1.13B | $1.09B | $1.37B | $2.11B | $2.08B | $2.12B |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.91 | $3.81 | $4.79 | $7.37 | $7.28 | — |
| Free cash flow | $1.42B | $1.08B | $1.64B | $1.82B | $1.90B | $1.87B |
| Gross margin | 40.2% | 37.8% | 40.2% | 43.5% | 44.5% | — |
| Operating margin | 12.6% | 11.0% | 13.0% | 17.8% | 17.0% | 16.9% |
| Net margin | 8.9% | 7.7% | 9.0% | 13.4% | 12.9% | 12.6% |
| Revenue growth | +8.0% | +11.4% | +8.0% | +2.7% | +2.2% | — |
| Cash + short-term investments | $360M | $599M | $920M | $1.26B | $646M | — |
| Total debt | $8.76B | $8.58B | $8.18B | $7.56B | $8.13B | — |
Fiscal years end Dec. EPS is split-adjusted.

## Valuation (price ÷ last four quarters, through Jun 30, 2026)
P/E 38.7x · P/S 4.9x · EV/EBITDA 25.3x · EV/Sales 5.3x · P/FCF 43.7x · P/B 8.2x · FCF yield 2.29% · Earnings yield 2.58% · Dividend yield (paid, TTM) 0.97% · Buyback yield (TTM) 1.53% · Net debt $8.04B · EV $90.0B
P/E at fiscal year-ends: Dec 2025 36.1x, Dec 2024 31.8x, Dec 2023 41.4x.

## Superinvestors (SEC 13F-HR, Q2 2026)
4 of 80 tracked investors hold ECL. Each row is the investor's latest 13F; change is vs their prior-quarter share count.
| Investor | Firm | % of portfolio | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Gates | Gates Foundation Trust | 4.22% | $1.45B | Unchanged |
| Mairs & Power | Mairs & Power Funds | 1.99% | $217M | Added +2.1% |
| Thomas Gayner | Markel Group | 0.58% | $76.4M | Unchanged |
| Jensen Investment Management |  | 0.39% | $16.3M | Reduced -0.7% |

## Insider sales (SEC Form 4, open-market, last ~7 months)
0 of 5 under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan (scheduled in advance). Unplanned sales were timed by the insider.
| Trade date | Insider | Role | Shares | Value | % of holdings sold | 10b5-1 plan | Insider type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-18 | Beck Christophe | CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO | 17,862 | $5.0M | 19.3% | No | Opportunistic (traded every year 2023–2025, no repeating month) |
| 2026-08-11 | Cook Gregory B | Co-COO - Global Businesses | 4,567 | $1.3M | 23% | No | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023) |
| 2026-07-30 | Kirkland Scott D | CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | 3,357 | $930K | 15% | No | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023–2025) |
| 2026-06-09 | Brown Darrell R | Co-COO - Global Markets | 10,000 | $2.6M | 23.4% | No | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023–2025) |
| 2026-05-27 | Vautrinot Suzanne M | Director | 1,004 | $266K | 7.9% | No | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023 or 2024) |
% of holdings sold = shares sold ÷ (shares sold + all holdings the insider reported on that Form 4, direct and through trusts).
Insider type follows Cohen, Malloy & Pomorski (Journal of Finance, 2012). An insider who traded the stock in the same calendar month in each of the past three years is a routine trader; one who traded in each of those years without such a pattern is an opportunistic trader. In their study, trades by opportunistic insiders predicted future returns and trades by routine insiders did not. Counts open-market purchases and sales only (SEC Form 4 codes P and S) by that insider in that company. Not investment advice.

## Insider purchases (SEC Form 4, open-market, last ~7 months)
5 purchases, $3.7M. Private placements, offerings, dividend reinvestment and employee stock purchase plan buys are excluded.
| Trade date | Insider | Role | Shares | Value | Avg price | Insider type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | Green Eric Mark | Director | 3,690 | $1.0M | 276.64 | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023–2025) |
| 2026-06-11 | Clark Benjamin M. | EVP - Global Supply Chain | 1,000 | $264K | 263.83 | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023–2025) |
| 2026-06-10 | Doukeris Michel D | Director | 7,750 | $2.0M | 258 | Too little history (no open-market trades in 2023–2025) |
| 2026-05-13 | Maclennan David | Director | 1,000 | $251K | 250.65 | Routine (bought in Aug each year 2023–2025; this trade is outside those months) |
| 2026-05-04 | Maclennan David | Director | 800 | $206K | 256.91 | Routine (bought in Aug each year 2023–2025; this trade is outside those months) |

## Analysts
Consensus Buy (mean 1.96 on a 1–5 scale), 24 analysts; mean target USD 325.05 (low 295, high 360).
Rating changes, last 120 days:
| Date | Firm | Action | Rating | Price target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-05 | UBS | Target raised | Buy | $342 → $344 |
| 2026-07-30 | Wells Fargo | Target raised | Equal-Weight | $275 → $295 |
| 2026-07-29 | Mizuho | Target raised | Outperform | $325 → $327 |
| 2026-07-29 | BMO Capital | Target raised | Outperform | $345 → $360 |
| 2026-07-29 | JP Morgan | Target raised | Overweight | $295 → $305 |
| 2026-07-17 | Oppenheimer | Upgrade | Perform → Outperform | $320 |
| 2026-07-09 | Deutsche Bank | Target raised | Buy | $325 → $335 |
| 2026-07-07 | RBC Capital | Reiterated | Outperform | $337 |

## Total return (dividends reinvested)
|  | 1Y (from 2025-10-23) | 5Y (from 2021-10-18) |
|---|---|---|
| Total return | +7.4% | +39.6% |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | +14.9% | +80.3% |
| Per year | +7.5% | +6.9% |
| Volatility (annualized) | 21.8% | 24.4% |
| Max drawdown | -20.1% (Feb 2026→May 2026) | -42.1% (Nov 2021→Oct 2022) |

## Peers (Specialty Chemicals)
SHW (Sherwin-Williams Company (The)) USD 345.63 +2.48% · APD (Air Products and Chemicals, Inc) USD 308.22 +1.84% · LIN (Linde plc) USD 510.36 +1.96% · PPG (PPG Industries, Inc.) USD 113.09 +2.65% · IFF (International Flavors & Fragran) USD 93.83 +3.08% · LYB (LyondellBasell Industries NV) USD 65.37 +3.32%

## More
Full page: https://nexqual.com/ECL · Free keyless MCP server with the same data and citations: https://mcp.nexqual.com/mcp · Guide for agents: https://nexqual.com/agents · https://nexqual.com/llms.txt

## Revenue by business segment (quarter ended 2026-06-30)

| Line | Revenue | Share | YoY | Operating income | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global Water | $2.22B | 50.4% | +12.4% | $347.7M | 15.6% |
| Global Institutional & Specialty | $1.62B | 36.7% | +4.9% | $389.9M | 24.1% |
| Global Pest Elimination | $351.1M | 8.0% | +10.6% | $70.5M | 20.1% |
| Global Life Sciences | $220.1M | 5.0% | +18.4% | $58.5M | 26.6% |
| Total revenue | $4.42B | 100% | — | $757.9M | 17.2% |

## Revenue by product line (quarter ended 2026-06-30)

| Line | Revenue | Share | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product and equipment sales | $3.45B | 78.1% | +9.3% |
| Service and lease sales | $966.0M | 21.9% | +11.2% |
| Total revenue | $4.42B | 100% | — |

## Company outlook (8-K filed 2026-07-28)

- "Business Outlook 2026 Long-term growth trends in water, hygiene, infection prevention, and digital technologies continue to fuel resilient demand for Ecolab's innovative technologies and services."
- "With acc elerating pricing and the acquisitions of Ovivo Electronics and CoolIT Systems, Ecolab expects reported sales in the second half of 2026 to increase 12% to 14%."
- "Organic sales growth is expected to accelerate to the 6% to 7% range in the second half of the year as pricing strengthens and volumes continue to grow."
- "The company anticipates adjusted operating income margin in the second half of the year to be approximately 19% and an organic operating income margin of approximately 20%."

## Analyst estimates and revisions

| Period | EPS est. | 90d ago | Change | Revenue est. | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current quarter (ends 2026-09-30) | $2.17 | $2.17 | +0.3% | $4.70B | 19 |
| Next quarter (ends 2026-12-31) | $2.20 | $2.19 | +0.3% | $4.75B | 19 |
| Current fiscal year (ends 2026-12-31) | $8.16 | $8.18 | -0.2% | $17.92B | 22 |
| Next fiscal year (ends 2027-12-31) | $9.38 | $9.36 | +0.2% | $19.34B | 22 |