Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 15,695 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,695 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walnut Level Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,812,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 126.1% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 115,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after buying an additional 64,433 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,822,000 after buying an additional 139,751 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,185,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 28.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,609,000 after buying an additional 916,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI opened at $34.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $37.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.49.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 40.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. CJS Securities upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.75.

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.