Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $310.00 and last traded at $308.0790, with a volume of 148,355 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $302.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.58.

Ecolab Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $282.90 and a 200-day moving average of $276.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $85.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,381,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $578,923,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $495,109,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $413,381,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.