Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $328.58

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $328.58.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,381,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,617,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,007,851,000 after buying an additional 51,712 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.3% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,708,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $743,726,000 after acquiring an additional 206,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,412,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $641,609,000 after acquiring an additional 88,096 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE ECL opened at $304.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $282.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.45. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $243.15 and a 52 week high of $310.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.73%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.