Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

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

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $221.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.38 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $224.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.