Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $220.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 1.09% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.65.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $224.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.54.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.