Analysts Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Target Price at $289.33

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $289.20.

Several research firms recently commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Ecolab Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $230.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.01. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Ecolab by 797.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.