Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Increased to $260.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $238.00 to $260.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $233.65.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $224.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $224.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.37. The firm has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business 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 yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.