Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.33.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 797.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after buying an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $237.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $256.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.15. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.