Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $230.47.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $218.20 on Friday. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The firm has a market cap of $62.39 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $223.34 and a 200-day moving average of $199.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.