Brokerages Set Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Price Target at $30.88

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.8750.

ESI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Fermium Researc raised shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,324,078.30. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,522,722.15. This trade represents a 46.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 460,399 shares of company stock worth $12,376,561 in the last ninety days. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Element Solutions by 27.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Element Solutions by 6.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 3.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $24.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.36. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.33.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $656.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.