Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $310.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $235.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $259.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.15. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.