Ecolab (ECL) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Tuesday, July 30th. Analysts expect Ecolab to post earnings of $1.66 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Ecolab to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $245.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $70.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $239.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.94. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $248.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

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.