Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Raised to $243.00 at Robert W. Baird

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target boosted by Robert W. Baird from $232.00 to $243.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $233.65.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL opened at $224.98 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $64.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.37. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $365,420,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 903,307 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19,062.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,261,000 after buying an additional 552,992 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,178,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,875,434,000 after purchasing an additional 387,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.