Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Increases Dividend to $0.65 Per Share

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57.

Ecolab has increased its dividend by an average of 4.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. Ecolab has a payout ratio of 34.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecolab to earn $7.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.8%.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE ECL opened at $250.20 on Friday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $70.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $250.34 and its 200 day moving average is $245.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

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.