How to buy Ecolab stock | $223.9

Ecolab Inc is a specialty chemicals business based in the US. Ecolab shares (ECL) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Ecolab employs 44,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around 0.00.

Ecolab stock price (NYSE: ECL)

Use our graph to track the performance of ECL stocks over time.

Ecolab shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-09-18.

Latest market close	$223.90
52-week range	$179.67 - $230.76
50-day moving average	$222.59
200-day moving average	$217.22
Wall St. target price	$234.69
PE ratio	59.9341
Dividend yield	$1.91 (0.85%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	$3.64

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Is it a good time to buy Ecolab stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Ecolab price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $223.9 from 2021-09-23

1 week (2021-09-17)	2.55%
1 month (2021-08-24)	0.71%
3 months (2021-06-24)	7.52%
6 months (2021-03-24)	7.41%

1 year (2020-09-24)	15.05%
2 years (2019-09-24)	14.90%
3 years (2018-09-24)	41.73%
5 years (2016-09-23)	88.09%

Is Ecolab under- or over-valued?

Valuing Ecolab stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Ecolab's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Ecolab's P/E ratio

Ecolab's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 60x. In other words, Ecolab shares trade at around 60x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Ecolab's PEG ratio

Ecolab's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.282. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Ecolab's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Ecolab's EBITDA

Ecolab's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $2.6 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Ecolab's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Ecolab financials

Revenue TTM	$12.1 billion
Operating margin TTM	14.81%
Gross profit TTM	$4.9 billion
Return on assets TTM	6.13%
Return on equity TTM	16.86%
Profit margin	8.66%
Book value	$23.45
Market capitalisation	$62.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Ecolab shares

There are currently 2.4 million Ecolab shares held short by investors – that's known as Ecolab's "short interest". This figure is 1% down from 2.5 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Ecolab shares can be evaluated.

Ecolab's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Ecolab's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Ecolab shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Ecolab shares traded daily (recently around 681749.30362117). Ecolab's SIR currently stands at 3.59. In other words for every 100,000 Ecolab shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3590 shares are currently held short.

However Ecolab's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Ecolab shares, or, against the total number of tradable Ecolab shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Ecolab's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Ecolab shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0096% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Ecolab shares, roughly 10 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Ecolab.

Find out more about how you can short Ecolab stock.

Ecolab's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Ecolab.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Ecolab's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 25.82

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Ecolab's overall score of 25.82 (as at 12/31/2018) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 42nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Ecolab is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Ecolab's environmental score

Environmental score: 7.58/100

Ecolab's environmental score of 7.58 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Ecolab is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Ecolab's social score

Social score: 7.64/100

Ecolab's social score of 7.64 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Ecolab is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Ecolab's governance score

Governance score: 3.09/100

Ecolab's governance score puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Ecolab is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Ecolab's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Ecolab scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Ecolab has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Ecolab Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	25.82
Total ESG percentile	41.75
Environmental score	7.58
Environmental score percentile	1
Social score	7.64
Social score percentile	1
Governance score	3.09
Governance score percentile	1
Level of controversy	2

Ecolab share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 43.54% of net profits

Recently Ecolab has paid out, on average, around 43.54% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0.88% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Ecolab shareholders could enjoy a 0.88% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Ecolab's case, that would currently equate to about $1.91 per share.

While Ecolab's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Ecolab may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Ecolab's most recent dividend payout was on 14 October 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 12 September 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Ecolab's shares ever split?

Ecolab's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 8 June 2003. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Ecolab shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Ecolab shares which in turn could have impacted Ecolab's share price.

Ecolab share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Ecolab's shares have ranged in value from as little as $179.666 up to $230.7586. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Ecolab's is 1.0066. This would suggest that Ecolab's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Ecolab overview

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services worldwide. Its 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, and petrochemical industries. The company's Global Institutional & Specialty segment provides specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the foodservice, hospitality, lodging, government and education, and retail industries. Its Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segment offers specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the healthcare, personal care, and pharmaceutical industries, such as infection prevention and surgical solutions, and end-to-end cleaning and contamination control solutions under the Ecolab, Microtek, and Anios brand names. The company's Other segment offers pest elimination services to detect, eliminate, and prevent pests, such as rodents and insects in restaurants, food and beverage processors, educational and healthcare facilities, hotels, quick service restaurant and grocery operations, and other institutional and commercial customers. This segment also provides colloidal silica for binding and polishing applications in semiconductor, catalyst, and aerospace component manufacturing, as well as chemical industries; and products and services that manage wash process through custom designed programs, premium products, dispensing equipment, water and energy management, and reduction, as well as real time data management.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Ecolab is owned by insiders or institutions?
Currently 0.463% of Ecolab shares are held by insiders and 86.775% by institutions. How many people work for Ecolab?
Latest data suggests 44,000 work at Ecolab. When does the fiscal year end for Ecolab?
Ecolab's fiscal year ends in December. Where is Ecolab based?
Ecolab's address is: 1 Ecolab Place, Saint Paul, MN, United States, 55102-2233 What is Ecolab's ISIN number?
Ecolab's international securities identification number is: US2788651006 What is Ecolab's CUSIP number?
Ecolab's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 278865100