Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Mizuho

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was upgraded by Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $260.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $216.00. Mizuho’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.28% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ECL. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $221.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.38 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $221.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $326,000. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $226,000. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 8,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 12,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,833,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 8,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.