Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $240.74. The stock had a trading volume of 323,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,095,943. The firm has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.35. Ecolab has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,005,000 after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.2% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,947,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 56,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,368,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ecolab by 797.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. 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.