Oppenheimer Maintains Outperform on Ecolab (ECL)

Oppenheimer is out with its report today on Ecolab

, maintaining Overweight. In a note to clients, Oppenheimer writes, "ECL is a compelling growth investment, in our opinion, with a dominant franchise that normally doubles EPS every five years, generates high 20%+ returns, and is still in the early stages of its market opportunity. ECL has only $6B of a highly fragmented $51B global addressable market; its unique business model based on high-touch services is a powerful competitive advantage and, in our opinion, can triple revenue by cross-selling its portfolio. Near term, while ECL has less leverage to a recovery since it grew earnings during the recession, it consistently generates above-GDP growth throughout the cycle and typically outperforms." Oppenheimer has a $56 PT on ECL. At the time of posting, shares of ECL were trading at $49.55, down 0.20% from Thursday's close.