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

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $288.00.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $437,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,751,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.2% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $628,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $265.54 on Tuesday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.82.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. 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.