William Blair Equities Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Analysts at William Blair boosted their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for Ecolab in a report released on Tuesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $1.63 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.49. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.55 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ecolab’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.76 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.80 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $6.53 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.20 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

ECL opened at $227.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $224.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.54.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.