Bailard Inc. Takes $211,000 Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $24.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 49.27, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. Element Solutions Inc has a 12 month low of $17.53 and a 12 month high of $25.81.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $269,212.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $269,212.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,327,947.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 1,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $32,712.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 177,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,021.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ESI. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.60.

Element Solutions Profile

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.