Fundamental analysis · SEC EDGAR · TTM through 30/09/2026
ECL · NYSE · Materials
Fundamental quality
70
out of 100
Ecolab Inc. earns a fundamental-quality score of 70 out of 100, profiling it as a company of reasonable quality. Its score rests mainly on its profitability (net margin 12%). Whether it's cheap or expensive depends on the current price, which you can compute in the tool.
Ecolab sells industrial cleaning and hygiene as a service: the products and systems hotels, restaurants, hospitals and factories use to sanitize, wash and save water. Millions of small customers, recurring contracts and a rep visiting every kitchen: the perfect moat disguised as soap.
EPS growth: 14.2% · Revenue growth: 7%
Net margin: 12% · ROE: 20% · ROIC: 10.2%
Net debt/EBITDA: 3.44x · FCF: 10.3%
Source: SEC EDGAR · TTM through 30/09/2026
The score includes +4 for dividend strength: 40 consecutive years of increases. Keeping that streak demands growing cash generation and balance-sheet discipline.
The score combines growth, profitability and financial strength, and here its pillars hold up evenly.
Percentile against the other 27 Materials companies in our coverage: how far it beats them on each metric (100 = best in sector).
Computed from the daily dataset scores. A high percentile places the company among the best in its sector on that metric; it is not a buy recommendation.
Key concepts
What do these metrics mean? Fundamental analysis · What is the P/E · What is EPS · What is ROE · Net & gross margin · Free cash flow
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow | Net debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 11,790 | -1,185 | 1,371 | 5,426 |
| 2021 | 12,733 | 1,130 | 1,419 | 8,398 |
| 2022 | 14,188 | 1,092 | 1,076 | 7,982 |
| 2023 | 15,320 | 1,372 | 1,637 | 7,262 |
| 2024 | 15,741 | 2,112 | 1,819 | 6,308 |
| 2025 | 16,081 | 2,076 | 1,904 | 7,479 |
Between 2020 and 2025, revenue went from $11,790M to $16,081M (+36%) and net income went from -$1,185M to $2,076M (+275%).
Annual figures in millions of U.S. dollars ($M) per SEC filings. Net debt is total debt minus cash.
Latest results
Figures for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, versus the nine months ended September 30, 2025 (SEC filings):
Compared with the previous close (June 30, 2026), this is what moved in its accounts:
Automatic comparison between the two most recent periods filed with the SEC. One quarter doesn't make a trend: read it alongside the historical evolution above.
$2.68
per share, yearly
36.3% of earnings
Payout
40 straight years raising it
Growth
The dividend yield depends on today's price. Compute it in the analyzer → · See all dividend-paying stocks →
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Is Ecolab Inc. cheap or expensive?
That depends on the current price. Look it up, enter it in the tool and get the full valuation verdict (P/E against its sector).
Compute the valuation →Is Ecolab Inc. a good company to invest in?
In terms of business quality, Ecolab Inc. scores 70 out of 100 in our analysis, placing it as a company of reasonable quality. That said, this isn't a recommendation: whether it's a good investment also depends on its current price and your goals.
Is Ecolab Inc. a profitable company?
Yes. Ecolab Inc. shows a net margin of 12% and an ROE of 20%, a sign of a profitable business.
Does Ecolab Inc. have a lot of debt?
Yes, its leverage is high: net debt is 3.44 times its EBITDA, and it has been rising.
Is Ecolab Inc. growing?
Its revenue has grown 7% annualized in recent years and its earnings per share 14.2%, and without interruption since 2020.
Does Ecolab Inc. generate cash?
Yes. It converts about 10.3% of its revenue into free cash flow, and has done so positively year after year.
The thresholds are general and the system doesn't judge qualitative factors. See the full methodology and use this analysis as a first filter, never as a final decision.
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Who's behind the methodology and model · how the score is computed
Data: see Ecolab Inc.'s filings on EDGAR
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