Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Upgraded to “Buy” by Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $260.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $216.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.2 %

ECL opened at $219.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $221.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a PE ratio of 45.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank raised its position in Ecolab by 2.7% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after acquiring an additional 10,676 shares in 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.