Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.420-7.620 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.470-1.530 EPS.

Ecolab Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $201.99 and a 1 year high of $267.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.06 and a 200 day moving average of $246.08.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.00%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.27.

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.