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 report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $260.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $216.00.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $219.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $221.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motco purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.