Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $250.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $262.22 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 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.