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

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $262.21.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $254.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $255.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.80 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.24.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.