Brokerages Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) PT at $280.60

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $280.60.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $234.32 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.16. The firm has a market cap of $66.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,005,000 after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $1,947,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 56,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,368,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.