Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $290.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $279.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $235.53 on Tuesday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $66.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.19.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 73,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.0% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.6% in the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the period. Vicus Capital acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by 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.