Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Now Covered by Wells Fargo & Company

Equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.82% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.38.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $237.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 681,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,163,075. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $249.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.53. The company has a market capitalization of $67.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Motco bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently 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.