Royal Bank of Canada Increases Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $306.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $260.00 to $306.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and cut their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $257.73.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $248.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $244.09 and a 200-day moving average of $235.56. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $253.57. The stock has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $390,687,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.