Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives $219.06 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $222.19.

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 183.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 9,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 5,919 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $914,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $230.90 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $215.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.38. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The company has a market capitalization of $66.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

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.