Redburn Atlantic Downgrades Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to Neutral

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Redburn Atlantic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $270.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.44% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $251.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $71.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average is $250.15. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.