Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.40-6.70 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41. Ecolab also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.400-6.700 EPS.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Ecolab stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.54. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $233.65.

About Ecolab

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.