StockNews.com Downgrades Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) to Hold

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TheStreet upgraded Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.60.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $24.61 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.92. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $25.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 50.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.32.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $573.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.43 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 5.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $269,212.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,327,947.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 14,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $342,756.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 171,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,979,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $269,212.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,327,947.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 370.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1,585.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products.