Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.75-1.85 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.81. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.600-6.700 EPS.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

ECL stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $253.40. The stock had a trading volume of 488,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,890. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $72.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $159.15 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 38.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.