Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $230.47.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $220.78 on Friday. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $63.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 2,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.