Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues Q3 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) updated its third quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.750-1.850 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.790. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.500-6.700 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $249.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $230.69. 1,802,991 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,156,679. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $249.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $239.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.