Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $247.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $239.78 and a 200-day moving average of $226.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.91, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $249.00.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.06.

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.