Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $310.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $235.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $261.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, 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. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.