Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Price

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ESI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. CJS Securities raised shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $29.49 on Monday. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $29.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $656.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,653.80. This represents a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 306,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,285,760. This represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions by 154.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 710.1% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter worth $41,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.