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Ecolab Inc.

Rank #297Value

ECL · NYSE · Basic Materials

Ecolab Inc. (ECL) — Rank #297 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.24) · ROE 20.6% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000031462 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally.

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The company operates through four segments: Global Water, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Pest Elimination, and Global Life Sciences. The Global Water segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, primary metals and mining, power generation, global refining, petrochemical, pulp and paper industries. The Global Institutional & Specialty segment provides cleaning and sanitizing products to the foodservice, healthcare, hospitality, lodging, government, education and retail industries. The Global Pest Elimination segment provides pest elimination services to detect, prevent, and eliminate pests comprising rodents and insects in full-service and quick-service restaurants, food and beverage processors, hotels, grocery operations, and other commercial segments, including education, life sciences, and healthcare. The Global Life Sciences segment provides cleaning and contamination control solutions to pharmaceutical and personal care manufacturers. It offers its products under the Ecolab, Kay, Purolite, and Bioquell brand names. The company sells its products through field sales and corporate account personnel, distributors, and dealers. Ecolab Inc.

was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Industry
Specialty Chemicals
Sector
Basic Materials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31
Website
ecolab.com

Price History

ECL+29.7% · +5.3% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and dividend yield are the primary valuation lenses for mature businesses.

Market Cap

$76.85B

P/E (annual)

37.7

P/S (annual)

4.8

P/B

7.6

P/OCF (annual)

26.0

Shareholder Yield

1.5%

Employees

48,000

Industry

Specialty Chemicals

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green2 red
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
RPO outpacing revenueRemaining performance obligations growing faster than recognized revenue — forward demand building
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year
Balance sheet deterioratingNet cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.24
Return on equity
20.6%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.97
Current ratio
1.84×
Net cash
$3.86B

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.8%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
2.2%
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Share dilution
-0.5%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

17.5%

fairly valued

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -0.5% — per-share value needs a total required return of 17.0% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 5.4%

priced above its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

12.6%

r = 10% (base)

17.5%

r = 12%

21.7%

Net debt / market cap: -4.9%

Base FCF: $1.9B3Y mean FCF: $1.8B

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

42.0xExpensive
33.2xmed 41.1x46.4x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

5.4xExpensive
3.2xmed 4.0x5.4x

P / B

Price / book value per share

8.9xExpensive
6.1xmed 7.3x9.9x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

12.2xExpensive
8.2xmed 9.6x12.4x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

45.8xExpensive
32.6xmed 41.3x45.8x

Dividend yield and payout ratio are the primary reads at this stage (trailing P/E — see valuation above).

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.24

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

61st pctl of 34 SIC 28 peers

Return on equity

20.6%

Gross margin

44.5%

48th pctl of 34 SIC 28 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

2.2%

RPO growth (YoY)

69.6%

Remaining performance obligations growth — RPO > revenue = forward demand building.

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

4.3%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

6.4%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

23.9%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

21.0%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.97

0th pctl of 31 SIC 28 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.84×

27th pctl of 34 SIC 28 peers

Quick ratio

1.43×

Net cash

$3.86B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$1.90B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.08

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.8%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

4.0 / 5

Strong
Payout ratio
36.3%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
2.53×4/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
10 yr5/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.97 · IC 8.94×3/5 Good

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

N/A

Only 8/9 components determinable.

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Decline
Capital Return
Value
View full financial statements →