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

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.33.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 32.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $265.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $243.29 and its 200 day moving average is $246.86. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

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.