Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Raised to $270.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $269.00 to $270.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $234.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $66.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $236.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $227.29 and its 200 day moving average is $210.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued 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 0.97%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.