Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has been given a “BBB+” credit rating by Morningstar. The firm’s “BBB+” rating suggests that the company is a moderate default risk. They also gave their stock a three star rating.

In other news, CEO Douglas M. Baker, Jr. sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.97, for a total value of $4,971,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 372,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,578,109.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael A. Hickey sold 20,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.19, for a total transaction of $2,491,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,536.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Saturna Capital boosted its stake in Ecolab by 59.9% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital now owns 10,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 4,029 shares during the period. KBC Group boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 14.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group now owns 83,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,150,000 after buying an additional 10,499 shares during the period. First Financial Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank now owns 26,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Toth Financial boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Toth Financial now owns 48,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,569,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Americas boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.7% in the third quarter. MUFG Americas now owns 101,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,112,000 after buying an additional 3,626 shares during the period.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) opened at 107.87 on Friday. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $99.99 and a 12-month high of $122.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.85 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $109.28 and a 200 day moving average of $113.59.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 11th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on ECL. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 19th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.29.

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene and energy technologies and services. The Company operating segments include Global Industrial, Global Institutional, Global Energy and Other. The Company’s Global Industrial segment consists of the Water, Food and Beverage, Paper and Textile Care operating units. Global Institutional segment consists of the Institutional, Specialty and Healthcare operating units. The Global Energy segment provides on-site, technology-driven solutions to the global drilling, oil and gas production, refining, and petrochemical industries. Other segment consists of the pest elimination and equipment care operating units. The Company’s cleaning and sanitizing programs and products, pest elimination services and equipment maintenance and repair services support customers in the foodservice, food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, Government and education, retail, textile care and commercial facilities management sectors in over 170 countries.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:ECL

To view more credit ratings from Morningstar, visit www.jdoqocy.comclick-7674909-10651170.

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