Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of 0.57 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%.

Ecolab has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Ecolab has a dividend payout ratio of 30.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecolab to earn $7.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.8%.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $6.68 on Thursday, reaching $237.37. The stock had a trading volume of 666,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $249.00. The company has a market cap of $67.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $239.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.54.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale 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.