Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday. The stock 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $282.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 22.57%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $244,381,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $578,923,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $495,109,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $413,381,000. 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.