Graham Capital Management L.P. Trims Stock Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lessened its holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 73.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,080 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,921,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,282,000 after buying an additional 1,301,602 shares during the period. FIL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,818,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,169,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,573,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,316,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,472,000 after buying an additional 510,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Element Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Element Solutions stock opened at $22.78 on Wednesday. Element Solutions Inc has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.70 and a 200-day moving average of $24.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

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.