Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 167,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,558 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $45,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 28.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:ECL opened at $281.31 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.