Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Barclays from $260.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Barclays's target price indicates a potential upside of 21.97% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ECL. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $245.97. The company had a trading volume of 774,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $252.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.95. The company has a market cap of $69.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $182.39 and a twelve month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. 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.