Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.60.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESI. TheStreet raised shares of Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $269,212.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,327,947.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Element Solutions news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $269,212.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,327,947.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 14,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $342,756.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 171,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,979,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. HMS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 18,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $694,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,790,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,676,000 after buying an additional 106,800 shares during the period. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 171,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,272,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $23.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.43. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $25.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.19. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.32.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $573.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.43 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. Analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products.