Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $305.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.06% from the company’s current price.

ECL has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.27.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $234.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $243.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $66.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a one year low of $194.34 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.