Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $280.60.

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $240.74 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $248.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.35. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

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.