Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $265.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $267.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ECL. Raymond James raised their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $249.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $237.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.90. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $249.00. The firm has a market cap of $67.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.92, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $749,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is 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.