Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Element Solutions Put Options (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 6,500 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 574% compared to the average daily volume of 965 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ESI shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. 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 report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In other news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 147,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions by 126.1% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 115,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after purchasing an additional 64,433 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth $1,185,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,822,000 after purchasing an additional 139,751 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,609,000 after purchasing an additional 916,804 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $31.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.72. Element Solutions has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $37.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.51%.

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.