Ecolab Expected To Continue Growing Steadily

Oppenheimer has published a research report on Ecolab ECL and has reiterated its Outperform rating based on a forecast of steady growth for the company. In the report, Oppenheimer writes "Our takeaways from meeting with ECL: the company continues to grind out growth, institutional cleaning end markets are gradually improving, and it remains well positioned to resume normal 15% EPS and 6-8% organic sales growth once unemployment abates, boosting food service (30% of revenue). Even with the sluggish economy, US full service/QSR logged its first rise in foot traffic in two years in September. The pullback since the 3Q report provides a nice entry point, in our opinion, with long-term fundamentals intact." Oppenheimer also maintains its $56 price target. Ecolab closed yesterday at $48.89.