Ecolab Inc. (ECL) PT Raised to $224 at Stifel
Stifel analyst Shlomo Rosenbaum raised the price target on Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) to $224.00 (from $205.00) while maintaining a Hold rating.
The analyst commented, "ECL continues to see positive momentum in the business overall, though headwind has increased raw material costs, which is an incremental almost $0.20 EPS headwind versus several months ago. While we think the revenue momentum is a tad better than what we modeled, and we are raising our revenue estimates slightly, the increased cost headwinds is resulting in our 2022 EPS estimates being pretty much the same as they were before. With the stock trading at valuations that are at the historical high-end of the range (for the five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), we are hesitant to push our valuation assumptions higher. Although 2023 is likely to be a much better year than 2022, rolling current P/E valuations on 2022 to our 2023 estimates implies only 10% upside — not bad, but not a ratings changer, in our view, particularly given the rising input costs environment we are in."