Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 6.600-6.700 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 6.640. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ecolab also updated its Q4 guidance to $1.75-1.85 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of ECL stock traded down $6.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $245.70. 1,987,222 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,143. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.58. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $159.15 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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