Redburn Atlantic Downgrades Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to Neutral

Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $270.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

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Ecolab Trading Down 1.3 %

ECL stock traded down $3.39 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $249.29. 775,157 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,122,159. Ecolab has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $256.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.18. The company has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ecolab by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.