Ethic Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Ethic Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,815 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 462.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 940.6% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 71.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $2,079,332.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,522,722.15. This trade represents a 46.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.75.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:ESI opened at $26.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.55. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.13 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.00%.

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.