Ecolab’s (ECL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $306.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $244.57 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $252.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $167.30 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 9.4% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 694,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,451,000 after acquiring an additional 48,617 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $2,997,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.