Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $277.47.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $242.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.60. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $68.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.