Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $230.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $65.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $239.60 and its 200 day moving average is $226.54. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $249.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.13.

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.