Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Ecolab (ECL -0.24%), which provides chemicals and services for water and wastewater treatment, has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Ecolab's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Ecolab facts

Headquarters (founded)

St. Paul, Minn. (1924)

Market Cap

$19.4 billion

Industry

Specialty chemicals

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$9.4 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Douglas Baker, Jr.

President/COO Thomas Handley

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

21.1%

Cash/Debt

$304.9 million / $6.3 billion

Dividend Yield

1.3%

Competitors

Diversey

ISS A/S

The ServiceMaster Company

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 277 members who have rated Ecolab believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those bulls, fellow Fool Andy Cross (TMFOpie), applauded Ecolab's recent move to purchase specialty chemical company Champion Technologies: "Building out its various platforms and deepening its moat/relationships with clients. The Champion acquisition gives it another foot into an important and growing industry to go along with Nalco. Green thumbs up."

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