Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price Target Raised at Wells Fargo & Company

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $315.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.56% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $3.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $295.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,443,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,674,000. Cornerstone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $16,698,000. Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 89.1% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 17,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,957,000 after acquiring an additional 8,384 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,932,000. Finally, Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $7,298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.