Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 6.500-6.700 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 6.570. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ecolab also updated its FY24 guidance to $6.50-6.70 EPS.

Ecolab Trading Down 7.6 %

ECL stock traded down $18.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $229.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,371,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,141,203. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $239.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.30. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $249.00. The firm has a market cap of $65.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $244.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s 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.