Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,050,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the October 31st total of 1,940,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 998,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.67.

View Our Latest Analysis on ECL

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $192.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,112,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,825. The company’s fifty day moving average is $173.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $193.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.02. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The business had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.99 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 11,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile (Get Free Report)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.

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Original: MarketBeat News Feed: Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest