Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $1.79 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Equities researchers at William Blair upped their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ecolab in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, July 30th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.76. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.61 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab’s FY2024 earnings at $6.60 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.25 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ECL. Citigroup raised 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $239.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.90. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $249.00.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.