Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $191.86 Average PT from Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $193.86.

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, September 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $183.73 per share, for a total transaction of $119,424.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,768,994.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% in the second quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 11,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors boosted its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 4.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.4 %

ECL opened at $177.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.86 and a 200-day moving average of $174.29. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $131.04 and a fifty-two week high of $191.41. The company has a market capitalization of $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.03. Ecolab had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.58%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.