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

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $260.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.06% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.44.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $1.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $245.14. 110,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,523. The firm has a market cap of $70.00 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.79. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $245.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Ecolab by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 78,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,299,000 after acquiring an additional 26,136 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 27,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,603,000 after buying an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,875,434,000 after acquiring an additional 387,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.