Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $33.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Element Solutions traded as high as $29.76 and last traded at $29.73, with a volume of 158699 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.26.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. CJS Securities upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Element Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $7,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 306,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,285,760. This represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,653.80. The trade was a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Element Solutions by 154.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 710.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.80. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.