Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $283.13.

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $4.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.42. 894,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $75.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $247.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.22.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

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.