BMO Capital Markets Raises Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $234.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $227.00 to $234.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $227.49 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.54. The company has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 143 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.