Piper Sandler Increases Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $310.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $270.00 to $310.00 in a report issued on Monday,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 16.70% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.7 %

ECL opened at $265.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $75.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $245.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.16. Ecolab has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $268.16. 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Ecolab by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.