Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price reduced by Piper Sandler from $305.00 to $270.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ECL. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.27.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $234.65 on Tuesday. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $194.34 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $243.29 and its 200 day moving average is $245.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after buying an additional 591,040 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 750.9% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,519,000 after acquiring an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Ecolab by 64.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,380,000 after acquiring an additional 129,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.