Citigroup Boosts Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $257.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $256.00 to $257.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $227.50 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Motco purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 74.91% of the stock is 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.