Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $277.20.

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

ECL stock opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $172.79 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $252.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.48. 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 company has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.