Morgan Stanley Upgrades Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to Overweight

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $280.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $263.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.34% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $247.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.67. The stock has a market cap of $69.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.