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ValueScreener company report

Ecolab Inc. (ECL)

NYSE / Basic Materials / Chemicals - Specialty

Share price

287.79 USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026

Market capitalisation

80.68B USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026
Market data
Oct 14, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2025, filed Feb 23, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 14, 2026
Filed years
10, FY2016 to FY2025
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on invested capital, after tax

12.8% Computed

From the FY2025 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to earnings

39.26x Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

2.3% Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2016 Revenue: 13.15B USDFY2016 Net income: 1.25B USDFY2017 Revenue: 13.84B USDFY2017 Net income: 1.52B USDFY2018 Revenue: 12.22B USDFY2018 Net income: 1.44B USDFY2019 Revenue: 12.56B USDFY2019 Net income: 1.58B USDFY2020 Revenue: 11.79B USDFY2020 Net income: -1.19B USDFY2021 Revenue: 12.73B USDFY2021 Net income: 1.13B USDFY2022 Revenue: 14.19B USDFY2022 Net income: 1.09B USDFY2023 Revenue: 15.32B USDFY2023 Net income: 1.37B USDFY2024 Revenue: 15.74B USDFY2024 Net income: 2.11B USDFY2025 Revenue: 16.08B USDFY2025 Net income: 2.08B USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
2 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it cheap

Price to earnings is 39.26x at the close of 2026-10-14 on FY2025 figures; the lines are 15.00x (Graham's defensive ceiling) and, by market convention, 10.00x, 25.00x and 40.00x, and this sits between 25.00x and 40.00x.

Today, against the Basic Materials sector (124 companies), 39.26x sits at the 80th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 14.77x to 34.48x.

Is it good

Return on invested capital was 12.8% in FY2025, in the band labelled "Above the cost of capital" (12.0% to 20.0%), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data.

Today, against the Basic Materials sector (91 companies), 12.8% sits at the 76th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 0.8% to 12.7%.

Is it safe

Interest coverage was 8.94x in FY2025, in the band labelled "Comfortable" (6.00x and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's interest-coverage table, suggesting an interest bill operating profit covers many times over.

Year by year against peers
Whether Ecolab Inc.'s return on invested capital stayed above the median of the Basic Materials sector, year by year. (FY2023 to FY2025, 3 fiscal years of Ecolab Inc. with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Ecolab Inc.'s return on invested capital has moved, and how steadily. (FY2016 to FY2025, 10 filed years of Ecolab Inc.)
What could explain it
What in Ecolab Inc.'s filed statements could explain the movements. (7 readings drawn from the statement lines Ecolab Inc. filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Ecolab Inc., and where in its filings. (2 questions for Ecolab Inc.)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Ecolab Inc.'s returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (16 of sixteen figures read for Ecolab Inc.)

These are ECL’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research ECLPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2025 annual report: 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, accession 0001104659-26-018357.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Ecolab Inc: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax12.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Return on equity21.2% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Return on capital employed, pre-tax14.3% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Return on assets8.4% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Gross margin44.5% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Operating margin17.0% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Net margin12.9% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
ECL 12.9%
SHW 10.9%PPG 9.9%APD -3.3%IFF -3.3%LYB -2.5%
-3.3%12.9%
Net margin: ECL against the 5 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Ecolab Inc: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity0.86 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Current ratio1.08 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Quick ratio0.81 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Interest coverage8.94x ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Altman Z-score5.07 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Net debt7.75B ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Total assets 24.70BTotal liabilities 14.89BShareholders' equity 9.77BOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Ecolab Inc owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2025, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357).

Ecolab Inc: balance sheet position
Total assets24.70B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026
Total liabilities14.89B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026
Shareholders' equity9.77B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026
Cash646.2M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026
Total debt8.40B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026
Net debt7.75B
Current ratio1.08
Debt to equity0.86

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Ecolab Inc: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings39.26x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
P/E on trailing twelve months38.62x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book8.40x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Price to sales5.10x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Enterprise value to EBIT32.81x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Enterprise value to EBITDA26.34x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Price to earnings over growth
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Diluted earnings per share7.28 USD FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Graham number75.17 USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value ECL on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Ecolab Inc today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Ecolab Inc: valuation
Share price287.79 USD
Market capitalisation80.68B USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA26.34x
Graham number75.17 USD
Diluted earnings per share, FY20257.28 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since Aug 3, 2017: low 23.49x, median 37.77x, high 63.79x, latest 38.62x. 2,061 trading days with a meaningful ratio, 251 more on a loss and left out. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Ecolab Inc

  1. The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW)Market cap 78.78B USD
  2. PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG)Market cap 23.31B USD
  3. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD)Market cap 65.14B USD
  4. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)Market cap 22.86B USD
  5. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB)Market cap 19.74B USD

Same industry (Chemicals - Specialty) and size band (Large, 10B to 200B), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Ecolab Inc: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield2.3% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Free cash flow1.90B USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Free cash flow margin11.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Dividend yield1.0% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Payout ratio36.3% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
FY2016 Free cash flow: 1.18B USDFY2016 Net income: 1.25B USDFY2017 Free cash flow: 1.22B USDFY2017 Net income: 1.52B USDFY2018 Free cash flow: 1.50B USDFY2018 Net income: 1.44B USDFY2019 Free cash flow: 1.69B USDFY2019 Net income: 1.58B USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 1.37B USDFY2020 Net income: -1.19B USDFY2021 Free cash flow: 1.42B USDFY2021 Net income: 1.13B USDFY2022 Free cash flow: 1.08B USDFY2022 Net income: 1.09B USDFY2023 Free cash flow: 1.64B USDFY2023 Net income: 1.37B USDFY2024 Free cash flow: 1.82B USDFY2024 Net income: 2.11B USDFY2025 Free cash flow: 1.90B USDFY2025 Net income: 2.08B USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Ecolab Inc.: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
39.26xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
8.40xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
32.81xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
2.3%FY2025Oct 14, 2026
12.8%FY2025Feb 23, 2026
1.0%FY2025Oct 14, 2026
0.86FY2025Feb 23, 2026
1.08FY2025Feb 23, 2026
5.10xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/a This figure compares a year against the one before it, and we hold one filed year for this company.
5.07FY2025Oct 14, 2026
-2.51FY2025Feb 23, 2026
6/9FY2025Feb 23, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2025, the newest full year on file. 10 filed fiscal years on record, FY2016 to FY2025, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 14, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 14, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025, read from the annual reports Ecolab Inc filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Ecolab Inc: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY202516.08B2.74B2.08B7.281.90B17.0%21.2%10-K, Feb 23, 20260001104659-26-018357
FY202415.74B2.80B2.11B7.371.82B17.8%24.1%10-K, Feb 21, 20250001558370-25-001263
FY202315.32B1.99B1.37B4.791.64B13.0%17.1%10-K, Feb 23, 20240001558370-24-001581
FY202214.19B1.56B1.09B3.811.08B11.0%15.1%10-K, Feb 24, 20230001558370-23-001969
FY202112.73B1.60B1.13B3.911.42B12.6%15.6%10-K, Feb 25, 20220001558370-22-002059
FY202011.79B1.40B-1.19B-4.151.37B11.8%-19.2%10-K, Feb 26, 20210001558370-21-001916
FY201912.56B1.85B1.58B5.331.69B14.7%18.1%10-K, Feb 28, 20200001558370-20-001788
FY201812.22B1.73B1.44B4.881.50B14.1%18.0%10-K, Mar 1, 20190001558370-19-001379
FY201713.84B1.95B1.52B5.121.22B14.1%20.0%10-K, Feb 23, 20180001558370-18-000999
FY201613.15B1.87B1.25B4.141.18B14.2%18.1%10-K, Feb 24, 20170001558370-17-000944
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 2.3%
  • Earnings, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 5.8%
  • Earnings per share, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 6.5%
  • Free cash flow, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 5.4%

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Ecolab Inc: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-2.51 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Piotroski F-score6/9 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 23, 2026, 0001104659-26-018357
Named tests met2 of 30 Computed
Beta0.51 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 2 met, 28 not met, 0 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
ROIC at or above WACC; Cash-covered dividend
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Deep value; Large cap, low P/E; Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); Three forensic scores; Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); High returns and growth; Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); EV/EBITDA and coverage; High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Low beta, profitable; Near the 52-week low; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); High returns, low debt; Owner earnings yield; High return on tangibles; Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy); Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Tangible book or below; Cash-flow yield and ROIC; Clean books, high ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman); Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman); Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff)
Figures we could not read(3)
  • PEG Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Eps Growth 5Y: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Price Tangible Book: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by the founder: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

  • 3 figures could not be read on this company: PEG Ratio, Eps Growth 5Y, Price Tangible Book.

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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Analyze your own portfolio

ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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Risk disclaimer. This service is provided for research and education only. Nothing on it is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Capital is at risk, and past performance does not indicate future results. Figures come from filed accounts and may be incomplete, delayed or later restated, so verify a number against the filing before you act on it.