Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,061 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,865 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 462.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 940.6% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 311.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Down 2.0%

Element Solutions stock opened at $25.81 on Friday. Element Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.08. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The firm had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.00%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP Carey J. Dorman sold 40,725 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $1,085,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 214,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,727,554.42. This trade represents a 15.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $2,079,332.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,324,078.30. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Element Solutions 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.