Analysts Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Price Target at $279.87

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $279.87.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ECL. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Ecolab by 17.3% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $247.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $189.58 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.98%.

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.