Brokerages Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) PT at $239.56

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $239.56.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Citigroup upped their price target on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 22.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 16,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 87,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,822,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $240.05 on Friday. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $243.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.