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

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 36.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 84,320 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.05% of Ecolab worth $37,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,904 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 86.1% during the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,915 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 101.8% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,180 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 3,118 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $321,000. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% in the first quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 73,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,607,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $274.32. 513,655 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,181,607. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.15. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.47.

About Ecolab

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.