Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective decreased by BMO Capital Markets from to in a research report report published on Monday, The Fly reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.
Several other research firms have also weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Cfra raised their target price on Ecolab from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Credit Suisse Group restated a hold rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Ecolab from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $204.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities restated a neutral rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $191.50.
Shares of ECL stock traded up $6.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $163.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 95,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,403,892. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.78. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $124.60 and a 52 week high of $211.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $47.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.84.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.04). Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.
In related news, EVP Jill S. Wyant sold 24,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.07, for a total value of $4,698,065.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,635,891.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jill S. Wyant sold 72,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.02, for a total transaction of $14,813,076.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,940,352.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 273,546 shares of company stock valued at $56,033,000. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Permanens Capital L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Permanens Capital L.P. now owns 350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 8,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 1,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 75.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Ecolab
Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional, Global Energy, and Other segments. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions primarily to industrial customers within the manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, primary metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, and commercial laundry.