Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.75-1.85 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.600-6.700 EPS.

Ecolab Trading Down 2.7 %

ECL stock traded down $6.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $245.73. 1,987,217 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,088,143. Ecolab has a one year low of $159.15 and a one year high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $252.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.58.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.