Stifel Nicolaus Increases Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $233.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $225.00 to $233.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.42% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.65.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The stock has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.54. 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 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 38,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $281,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 168,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,625,000 after purchasing an additional 65,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 5,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 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.