JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $228.00 to $255.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ECL has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $252.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $159.15 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 84.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $1,194,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 283,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,653,000 after acquiring an additional 24,910 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.