Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

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

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

ECL traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The stock has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $224.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.54. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 company currently has a consensus 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.