Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $260.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Ecolab stock opened at $246.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $246.49. The company has a market cap of $70.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $237.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.28.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, 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 value 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 54 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.