UPDATE: Credit Suisse Upgrades Ecolab to Outperform, Raises PT

In a report published Monday, Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on Ecolab

from Neutral to Outperform, and raised its price target from $68.00 to $76.00. Credit Suisse noted, “We are upgrading ECL to Outperform (from Neutral) and raising our price target to $76 (from $68), offering investors 15% upside. While we were previously concerned about the volatility that NLC bought to ECL, with the business fundamentals now looking better than expected (especially raws) and the acquisition of Champion Technologies helping to fuel faster growth in the attractive Energy segment, we believe ECL should Outperform its peers/the market. Our $76 price target represents 11X pro-forma 2013E EBITDA (vs. the stock currently at 10X) we believe it is justified based on ECL s growth/return profile and it s still below ECL s legacy multiple of 11.5-12X.” Ecolab closed on Friday at $66.24.