UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $271.00 to $288.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's price target points to a potential upside of 8.04% from the company's previous close.

ECL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE ECL traded down $2.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.56. The stock had a trading volume of 151,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,515. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $274.17. The stock has a market cap of $75.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $262.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% during the first quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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