Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Increased to $305.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $270.00 to $305.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ECL. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.43.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $254.82 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $244.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.45. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $255.99. The company has a market capitalization of $72.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.