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

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 stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $283.13.

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,822,000 after purchasing an additional 5,189 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,713,000 after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $260.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.34, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.42.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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