Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Lifted to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Ecolab stock opened at $239.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $240.41 and its 200-day moving average is $229.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $249.00. The company has a market cap of $68.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Motco acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.