Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.18, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $290.96 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.53. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $81.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.87.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.50.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.