Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,739 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $54,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $251.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $254.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.04. The company has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Company Profile

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