Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $247.39 on Friday. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $200.50 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $241.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other 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.