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Ecolab is a specialty chemicals business based in the US. Ecolab stocks (ECL.US) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was $234.01 – an increase of 7.75% over the previous week. Ecolab employs 47,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $13.1 billion.
How to buy stocks in Ecolab
- Compare stock trading platforms. Use our comparison table to help you find a platform that fits you.
- Open your brokerage account. Complete an application with your details.
- Confirm your payment details. Fund your account.
- Research the stock. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol – ECL – and research it before deciding if it's a good investment for you.
- Purchase now or later. Buy your desired number of stocks with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until the stock reaches a desired price.
- Check in on your investment. Optimize your portfolio by tracking your stock.
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What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in Ecolab?
- Has coronavirus impacted Ecolab shares?
- Ecolab shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is Ecolab stock a buy or sell?
- Ecolab performance over time
- Is Ecolab suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Ecolab shares over-valued?
- Ecolab's financials
- How volatile are Ecolab shares?
- Does Ecolab pay a dividend?
- Have Ecolab shares ever split?
- Other common questions
Ecolab stock price (NYSE:ECL)
Use our graph to track the performance of ECL stocks over time.Ecolab shares at a glance
Information last updated 2022-06-25.
| Latest market close | $159.65 |
|---|---|
| 52-week range | $143.32 - $236.81 |
| 50-day moving average | $164.33 |
| 200-day moving average | $196.50 |
| Wall St. target price | $194.81 |
| PE ratio | 41.5647 |
| Dividend yield | $1.98 (1.37%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $3.84 |
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Note: The dollar amounts in the table below are in Canadian dollars.
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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.
Ecolab price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the close of $159.65 from 2022-06-24
| 1 week (2022-06-17) | 7.75% |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2022-05-23) | -0.86% |
| 3 months (2022-03-23) | -8.11% |
| 6 months (2021-12-23) | -30.05% |
| 1 year (2021-06-25) | -23.05% |
|---|---|
| 2 years (2020-06-25) | -18.56% |
| 3 years (2019-06-25) | 191.63 |
| 5 years (2017-06-23) | 21.26% |
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 42x. In other words, Ecolab shares trade at around 42x 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 2.6174. 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 $2.7 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 | $13.1 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 14.27% |
| Gross profit TTM | $5.2 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | 5.96% |
| Return on equity TTM | 16.72% |
| Profit margin | 8.45% |
| Book value | $24.79 |
| Market capitalisation | $45.6 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
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 01/01/2019) 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.
Ecolab share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 42.77% of net profits
Recently Ecolab has paid out, on average, around 42.77% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.37% 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 1.37% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Ecolab's case, that would currently equate to about $1.98 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 15 July 2022. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 17 June 2022 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have Ecolab's shares ever split?
Ecolab's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 9 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 $143.3163 up to $236.8072. 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 1.0504. 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 in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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. The 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.
Frequently asked questions
Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for all investors. Trading forex on leverage comes with a higher risk of losing money rapidly. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before making any trades.
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