Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $297.3333.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $315.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Ecolab by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 878,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $240,676,000 after acquiring an additional 344,541 shares in the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 25.8% during the third quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 72,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the period. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $2,104,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 17.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 68,713 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,818,000 after purchasing an additional 10,292 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 205,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,402,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4%

ECL opened at $282.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $80.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.99. Ecolab has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $269.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.