Ecolab stock price target lowered to $307 by BMO Capital

Investing.com - BMO Capital lowered its price target on Ecolab Inc . (NYSE:ECL) to $307.00 from $309.00 on Wednesday, while maintaining an Outperform rating on the stock. The company, currently valued at $75.19 billion, trades near its 52-week high of $274.17, having delivered an 11.26% return year-to-date.

The firm noted that Ecolab did not fully meet investor expectations for a modest earnings beat, with pricing being "a bit less robust than investors hoped" according to their analysis. According to InvestingPro, the stock currently trades at a P/E ratio of 34.87x, suggesting a premium valuation compared to its Fair Value.

Despite the slight price target reduction, BMO Capital emphasized that Ecolab remains on track for low-to-mid-teens EPS growth in 2025, even in what they described as a challenging environment with ongoing investments being made to drive future growth.

The research firm projected that these conditions set the stage for another double-digit EPS growth year in 2026 for the company.

BMO Capital suggested that investors consider using the recent weakness in Ecolab’s stock as an opportunity to buy or add to positions, highlighting the company’s earnings stability and growth potential as uncommon attributes in the current market.

In other recent news, Ecolab Inc. reported its second-quarter earnings for 2025, showing strong revenue performance but a slight miss in earnings per share (EPS). The company posted an EPS of $1.89, narrowly missing the forecasted $1.90, while revenue met expectations at $4.02 billion. In addition, Baird upgraded Ecolab’s stock rating from Neutral to Outperform, raising the price target from $273.00 to $300.00. This upgrade was based on expectations for accelerating price-driven top-line performance and strong margin improvement. Stifel also reiterated its Buy rating for Ecolab, maintaining a price target of $303.00. Stifel highlighted the company’s margin improvements, noting a 150 basis points expansion in adjusted EBIT margin year-over-year. The firm believes Ecolab is on track to achieve its 20% EBIT margin goal by 2027. These developments reflect a positive outlook from analysts regarding Ecolab’s financial performance and strategic goals.

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