Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $260.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ECL. Raymond James upped their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $239.56.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $234.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.18. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $236.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.