Ecolab
ECL on NYSE. Ecolab sells water, hygiene and infection prevention products and services to businesses. Market value $77.7bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Materials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $2.38 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 30.4 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 10 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 91 of 100. Price score: 28 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$280.82 a share, 15% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $243.15 to $309.27.
Dividend: 1.0% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $12.7bn | $14.2bn | $15.3bn | $15.7bn | $16.1bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 12.6% | 11.0% | 13.0% | 17.8% | 17.0% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.16 | 1.19 | 1.02 | 0.86 | 0.83 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.28bn | 0.29bn | 0.28bn | 0.28bn | 0.28bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.83× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 6.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $4.4 billion last quarter, up 10% on a year ago.
- Profit: $535 million, up 2% on a year ago.
- It keeps 17 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, down from 18 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $1.9 billion, up from $1.6 billion.
- 1% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $8 billion more than cash, up from $6.3 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $4.0bn |
| December 2024 | $4.0bn |
| March 2025 | $3.7bn |
| June 2025 | $4.0bn |
| September 2025 | $4.2bn |
| December 2025 | $4.2bn |
| March 2026 | $4.1bn |
| June 2026 | $4.4bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $737m |
| December 2024 | $473m |
| March 2025 | $403m |
| June 2025 | $524m |
| September 2025 | $585m |
| December 2025 | $564m |
| March 2026 | $433m |
| June 2026 | $535m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 27 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 23 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 5 November 2026
Who owns it
12 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 12 last quarter. 1,706 funds in all.
- Markel GroupTom Gayner
- Value
- $76m
- Share of fund
- 0.6%
- Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein
- Value
- $16m
- Share of fund
- 0.4%
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $12m
- Share of fund
- 0.1%
- Eagle Capital ManagementBoykin Curry
- Value
- $6m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Beutel GoodmanBeutel Goodman team
- Value
- $55,000
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aristotle Capital ManagementHoward Gleicher | $980m | 2.1% | Cut |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $217m | 2.0% | Added |
| Findlay Park PartnersFindlay Park team | $116m | 1.6% | Added |
| Select Equity GroupGeorge Loening | $77m | 0.4% | New |
| Markel GroupTom Gayner | $76m | 0.6% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $54m | 0.1% | Added |
| Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein | $16m | 0.4% | |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $12m | 0.1% | |
| Eagle Capital ManagementBoykin Curry | $6m | <0.1% | |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $2m | <0.1% | Added |
| Cullen Capital ManagementJames Cullen | $257,436 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Beutel GoodmanBeutel Goodman team | $55,000 | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$6.4bn
- Vanguard Capital Management$4.6bn
- Banque Cantonale Vaudoise$4.1bnCut
- JPMorgan Chase$4.1bnAdded
- State Street$3.3bnAdded
- Morgan Stanley$2.2bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$1.8bn
- Geode Capital Management$1.7bn
- Gates Foundation Trust$1.5bn
- UBS AM, a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS$1.0bn
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
2 investors own more than 5%.
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor6.7%Since 31 March 2026
- JPMORGAN CHASE & COPassive investor5.1%Since 30 June 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 6.7% | 31 March 2026 | |
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO Passive investor | 5.1% | 30 June 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 4 insiders bought $4m of shares on the open market. 10 sold $27m.
- Green Eric MarkDirectorBought
- Date
- 11 September 2026
- Shares
- 3,690
- Price
- $276.64
- Value
- $1m
- Beck ChristopheCHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, DirectorSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 17,862
- Price
- $280.14
- Value
- $5m
- Cook Gregory BCo-COO - Global BusinessesSold
- Date
- 11 August 2026
- Shares
- 4,567
- Price
- $285.13
- Value
- $1m
- Kirkland Scott DCHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERSold
- Date
- 30 July 2026
- Shares
- 3,357
- Price
- $276.96
- Value
- $929,755
- Clark Benjamin M.EVP - Global Supply ChainBought
- Date
- 11 June 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $263.83
- Value
- $263,830
- Doukeris Michel DDirectorBought
- Date
- 10 June 2026
- Shares
- 7,750
- Price
- $258.00
- Value
- $2m
- Brown Darrell RCo-COO - Global MarketsSold
- Date
- 9 June 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $260.89
- Value
- $3m
- Vautrinot Suzanne MDirectorSold
- Date
- 27 May 2026
- Shares
- 1,004
- Price
- $264.98
- Value
- $266,040
- MacLennan DavidDirectorBought
- Date
- 13 May 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $250.65
- Value
- $250,650
- MacLennan DavidDirectorBought
- Date
- 4 May 2026
- Shares
- 800
- Price
- $256.91
- Value
- $205,528
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 September 2026 | Green Eric Mark Director | Bought | 3,690 | $276.64 | $1m |
| 18 August 2026 | Beck Christophe CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, Director | Sold | 17,862 | $280.14 | $5m |
| 11 August 2026 | Cook Gregory B Co-COO - Global Businesses | Sold | 4,567 | $285.13 | $1m |
| 30 July 2026 | Kirkland Scott D CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Sold | 3,357 | $276.96 | $929,755 |
| 11 June 2026 | Clark Benjamin M. EVP - Global Supply Chain | Bought | 1,000 | $263.83 | $263,830 |
| 10 June 2026 | Doukeris Michel D Director | Bought | 7,750 | $258.00 | $2m |
| 9 June 2026 | Brown Darrell R Co-COO - Global Markets | Sold | 10,000 | $260.89 | $3m |
| 27 May 2026 | Vautrinot Suzanne M Director | Sold | 1,004 | $264.98 | $266,040 |
| 13 May 2026 | MacLennan David Director | Bought | 1,000 | $250.65 | $250,650 |
| 4 May 2026 | MacLennan David Director | Bought | 800 | $256.91 | $205,528 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 23 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 6 Aug 2026 and 8 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 30.4× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.