Ecolab (ECL) to Release Earnings on Tuesday

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, October 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.81 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Ecolab to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $252.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.