Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Rating Increased 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 released on Tuesday.

ECL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $265.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.86. The company has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 worth $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position 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 worth $4,550,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.