Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.65

Key Points

• Ecolab Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, payable on October 15th to shareholders recorded by September 16th, which results in an annual yield of 1.0%.
• The company reported earnings of $1.89 per share last quarter, slightly missing analysts' estimates, but has a robust payout ratio of 30.8%, suggesting it can sustain its dividends effectively.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded Ecolab's stock rating and target price recently, reflecting optimism with a consensus price target of $290.71 and a majority rating of "Buy".

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th.

Ecolab has a dividend payout ratio of 30.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecolab to earn $8.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.5%.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $272.83. 833,178 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,143,075. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.06. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $267.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.51.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.