Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target increased by Barclays from $260.00 to $300.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ECL opened at $243.39 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.18. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $186.00 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after buying an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 50.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares in 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.