Seaport Res Ptn Brokers Lower Earnings Estimates for Ecolab

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ecolab in a research note issued on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $6.64 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $6.65. The consensus estimate for Ecolab’s current full-year earnings is $6.62 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Ecolab’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.79 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.03 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.45 EPS.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $242.28 on Friday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.60. The stock has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Invesco LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

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.