Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $306.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $252.60 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a one year low of $159.15 and a one year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.58. The firm has a market cap of $71.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,194,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Ecolab by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 283,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,653,000 after acquiring an additional 24,910 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is 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.