Freedom Capital Upgrades Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) to Strong-Buy

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) was upgraded by analysts at Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESI. UBS Group lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI opened at $33.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.21. Element Solutions 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 stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.24.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the firm’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 value of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Walnut Level Capital LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth $1,812,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,908,000 after buying an additional 64,433 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $207,822,000 after buying an additional 139,751 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter worth about $1,185,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 28.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,609,000 after acquiring an additional 916,804 shares in the last quarter. 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.