Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Raised to $233.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $225.00 to $233.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $227.50 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.96. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.