Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

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

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $221.67 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $224.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.77. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company has a market capitalization of $63.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.