Ecolab’s (ECL) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Mizuho

Mizuho reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $194.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, September 4th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $193.86.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Ecolab stock opened at $175.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $183.64 and a 200 day moving average of $174.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.01. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $131.04 and a 12-month high of $191.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $183.73 per share, for a total transaction of $119,424.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,768,994.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised 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 raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.9% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.