Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.420-7.620 EPS and its Q2 2025 guidance to 1.840-1.940 EPS.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $4.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $243.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 535,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,341. The company has a market capitalization of $69.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $249.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $219.97 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Ecolab stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 164.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.33.

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.

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