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 EPS guidance of $1.75-1.85 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.81. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.600-6.700 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of ECL stock traded down $6.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $245.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,987,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,143. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $159.15 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $69.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $252.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.58.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% 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.