BMO Capital Markets Boosts Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $260.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $234.00 to $260.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a neutral rating to a buy rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $267.29.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $256.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $245.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 89,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,551,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $1,137,000. Hedge funds and other 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.