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

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

ECL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.60.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $239.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 19.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,007,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 19.8% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $341,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 15.9% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,491 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $7,899,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.