The stock price of Ecolab, Inc. (NYSE: ECL) has plunged by -1.61 when compared to previous closing price of 228.26, but the company has seen a -3.10% decline in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. Zacks Investment Research reported 2024-04-04 that Ecolab’s (ECL) focus on research and development raises optimism about the stock.
Is It Worth Investing in Ecolab, Inc. (NYSE: ECL) Right Now?
Ecolab, Inc. (NYSE: ECL) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 46.91x compared to its average ratio. ECL has 36-month beta value of 1.10. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 6 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 6 as “overweight,” 9 as “hold,” and 1 as “sell.”
The public float for ECL is 253.90M, and currently, short sellers hold a 0.77% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of ECL on April 05, 2024 was 1.22M shares.
ECL’s Market Performance
ECL’s stock has seen a -3.10% decrease for the week, with a 0.52% rise in the past month and a 14.51% gain in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 1.30%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 1.21% for Ecolab, Inc. The simple moving average for the last 20 days is -1.06% for ECL stock, with a simple moving average of 17.52% for the last 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of ECL
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for ECL stocks, with Piper Sandler repeating the rating for ECL by listing it as a “Overweight.” The predicted price for ECL in the upcoming period, according to Piper Sandler is $260 based on the research report published on April 03, 2024 of the current year 2024.
Barclays gave a rating of “Overweight” to ECL, setting the target price at $260 in the report published on February 28th of the current year.
ECL Trading at 3.50% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought ECL to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -3.14% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.21%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 1.30%, as shares surge +0.47% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +12.75% upper at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, ECL fell by -3.10%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +23.37% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $227.03. In addition, Ecolab, Inc. saw 13.22% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further gains.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at ECL starting from Bradway Jennifer J, who sale 944 shares at the price of $216.01 back on Feb 15 ’24. After this action, Bradway Jennifer J now owns 3,029 shares of Ecolab, Inc., valued at $203,913 using the latest closing price.
Marsh Laurie M, the EVP – HUMAN RESOURCES of Ecolab, Inc., sale 11,917 shares at $191.41 during a trade that took place back on Dec 04 ’23, which means that Marsh Laurie M is holding 20,538 shares at $2,281,081 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for ECL
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.13 for the present operating margin
- 0.4 for the gross margin
The net margin for Ecolab, Inc. stands at 0.09. The total capital return value is set at 0.12. Equity return is now at value 17.96, with 6.34 for asset returns.
Based on Ecolab, Inc. (ECL), the company’s capital structure generated 0.51 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.29. The debt to equity ratio resting at 1.03. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 6.81.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 3.08 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 3.69. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 4.7. The receivables turnover for the company is 5.07for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.7. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.30.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Ecolab, Inc. (ECL) has had a better performance in recent times. Analysts have a mixed opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
