Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $19.22, but opened at $20.19. Element Solutions shares last traded at $20.39, with a volume of 687,824 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Element Solutions by 549.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after buying an additional 1,369,981 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,818,000. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $29,800,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $24,169,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $13,573,000. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

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.