Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $230.47 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $230.47.

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $220.78 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $223.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.43. The stock has a market cap of $63.12 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

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.