4 models fit Ecolab Inc. Common Stock and they disagree: 1 of 4 land within 15% of the average. The price is above every model.
Two or more of our models back this value.
Large premium(i)Bronze52
Valued as a mature, profitable company: Discounted cash flow, P/E comparison, EV/EBITDA comparison, Graham number, and Dividend discount.
ACCE opinionEcolab Inc. Common Stock (ECL)
Fair value (4 models)
$93.16
ACCE price target
$275
Rating
Overvalued
Horizon
12 months
Fair value published on 19 Oct 2026, 18:04 CEST; previously $94.25 since 11 Oct 2026, 00:00 CEST.
ACCE price target published on 19 Sept 2026, 00:00 CEST.
Rating published on 19 Oct 2026, 18:04 CEST.
Price used: $289 at the close on 23 Oct 2026, 22:00 CEST.
Models: Discounted cash flow, P/E comparison, EV/EBITDA comparison, and Graham number.
Fair value: the average of the applicable valuation models (discounted cash flow, multiples, residual income, dividend discount, shareholder yield), each run on the latest financial statements and the market price shown. Opinion columns (fair value, target, rating) are shown apart from the data. Full methodology: acceinvestments.com/data/how-we-value-stocks
Conflicts of interest: The author holds no personal position in this security. General statement
Produced by ACCE Investments (acceinvestments.com)
Data
Price vs fair value
209.7% above
-67.7% to fair value
ACCE score
56
out of 100
Analysts
83% buy
24 covering
P/E
38.7x
forward 29.7x
1-year return
+4.9%
Dividend yield
0.99%
Ecolab Inc. Common Stock in four questions
Plain answers, details below
Free accounts get 5 full stock pages a month, including the four answers.
Overview
ACCE thesis
Ecolab makes cleaning and sanitation chemicals for food processing plants, hospitals, and commercial kitchens, plus water treatment systems for industrial facilities. The company benefits from structural demand: food safety regulation tightens globally, and water scarcity pushes industrial customers toward treatment and reuse rather than fresh-water consumption. Revenue growth of 9.7% and an operating margin of 18.5% reflect pricing power in a fragmented market where switching costs are high once a customer adopts Ecolab's dosing systems. The forward PE of 30x suggests the market has already priced in near-term expansion, and at that valuation the stock offers limited margin of safety unless the company can accelerate growth beyond current trends or demonstrate that its water business can sustain margins above 20% as it scales. Worth a deeper look only if you believe Ecolab can grow faster than its historical 8-10% or if you see a near-term catalyst to re-rate the multiple downward.