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

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

Ecolab Stock Down 0.3 %

ECL traded down $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $245.00. The stock had a trading volume of 646,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,058. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $69.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $167.30 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

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.