Citigroup Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Citigroup Inc. lessened its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 53.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,132 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 154.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Element Solutions by 710.1% in 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 during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Element Solutions by 6,693.1% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,122,653.80. This trade represents a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. The trade was a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock opened at $30.77 on Monday. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $37.74. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.52.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $676.20 million during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.