Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $270.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $250.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

ECL opened at $239.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.49 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $249.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $240.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $3,035,000. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 109,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,671,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 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.