First Trust Advisors LP Raises Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 262.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,214,352 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 879,556 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.50% of Element Solutions worth $27,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Element Solutions by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688,056 shares during the last quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 101.9% during the first quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,424,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,653,000 after buying an additional 2,738,250 shares during the period. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 17.1% during the second quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,308,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,590,000 after buying an additional 628,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,738,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,699,000 after acquiring an additional 14,471 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,509,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,485,000 after acquiring an additional 287,291 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Trading Up 4.5%

Element Solutions stock opened at $27.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.33. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $28.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.75. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ESI shares. Fermium Researc raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total value of $1,327,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,522,722.15. This represents a 46.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $2,079,332.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares in the company, valued at $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 460,399 shares of company stock valued at $12,376,561. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Company 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.