Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $230.47 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $230.47.

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $219.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.93. The company has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after acquiring an additional 47,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.