Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.50.

Several research firms recently commented on ESI. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $29.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $30.26.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $645.13 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,653.80. The trade was a 23.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 306,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,285,760. The trade was a 48.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 33,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 30,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,180,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,489,000 after purchasing an additional 142,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $391,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.