Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. 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 2.7 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $5.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $227.56. 1,035,924 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,203,123. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $201.77. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The stock has a market cap of $65.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $230.47.

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.