Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $280.60.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $234.32 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.