Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates Q2 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its second quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.620-1.720 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.540. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.400-6.700 EPS.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $224.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.54. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average 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.