Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.62-1.72 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.54. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.400-6.700 EPS.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $226.57. 413,578 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,205,709. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $224.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $233.65.

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.