Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,115 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,684,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,390,000 after acquiring an additional 188,350 shares in the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT grew its stake in Element Solutions by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 280,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 9,758 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,644,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,242,000 after purchasing an additional 183,562 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,730,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,934,000 after purchasing an additional 45,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,362,000 after buying an additional 1,412,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ESI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Element Solutions news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,341,964. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,341,964. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 14,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 171,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,979,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI opened at $24.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.31. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $25.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $573.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

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.