Wells Fargo & Company Reiterates “$260.00” Price Target for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) received a $260.00 price target from investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 0.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $259.63 on Tuesday. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $246.86 and a 200-day moving average of $248.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,036,485,000 after buying an additional 93,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $964,885,000 after buying an additional 145,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after buying an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.