Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $289.33 Average PT from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.00.

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 5.4 %

NYSE ECL opened at $237.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.14 and a 200-day moving average of $249.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.