Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.75.

A number of research analysts recently commented on ESI shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th.

Element Solutions Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE ESI opened at $36.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.84 and a 200-day moving average of $26.91. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $36.38.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.51%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,653.80. This represents a 23.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,069,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,512 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Element Solutions by 134.6% during the 2nd quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,426,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,691 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 61.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 4,656,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,265 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Element Solutions by 253.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,349,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,146,000 after buying an additional 1,684,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jain Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 253.3% during the fourth quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 2,127,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,161,000 after buying an additional 1,525,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.