William Blair Weighs in on Ecolab Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Stock analysts at William Blair increased their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for Ecolab in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.63 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.49. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.49 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.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.65.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $224.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $224.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.37. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 47,351 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.