Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $306.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.25% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $254.47. The stock had a trading volume of 324,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,109. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $159.15 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $72.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.50. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 13.7% in the third quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 207.8% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after buying an additional 19,501 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Ecolab by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 716,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $182,872,000 after acquiring an additional 87,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.