Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $238.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.13% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.88.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $222.15 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $220.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.86. The stock has a market cap of $63.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.38, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,040,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 183,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,428,000 after purchasing an additional 9,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.