Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also commented on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $251.83 on Thursday. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $254.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $715,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 5,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. 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.