Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81, Zacks reports. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Ecolab updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.420-7.620 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.470-1.530 EPS.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $262.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $212.71 and a 52 week high of $267.56. The firm has a market cap of $74.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

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.