Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Ecolab (ECL 1.09%), 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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