By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $284.33.
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.
View Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab
Ecolab Stock Performance
Ecolab stock opened at $265.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $242.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.20. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $267.56.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Ecolab
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings 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 valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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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