Ecolab's (ECL) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $240.00 target price on the basic materials company's stock, down from their previous target price of $265.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $238.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,409,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,477. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.62. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

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.