Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $280.60 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $280.60.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $237.76 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.21 and its 200 day moving average is $246.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after buying an additional 591,040 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 136.0% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,467,000 after buying an additional 206,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its position in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,519,000 after buying an additional 143,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.