Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $257.00 to $280.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.12% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $261.38. The company had a trading volume of 775,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,700. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $242.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.08. The company has a market capitalization of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $212.71 and a 1 year high of $267.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.