Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) PT Raised to $306.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $260.00 to $306.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $257.73.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $251.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.67. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $253.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $390,687,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.