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

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $230.47.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $221.10 on Friday. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $63.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently 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.