Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $2.36 Million Position in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 104,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 479.7% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 67,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 55,933 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 48.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,716,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,805,000 after purchasing an additional 560,346 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the first quarter worth $623,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 13.3% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 110.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 30,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ESI. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $27.88.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $23.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.49 and its 200-day moving average is $23.07. 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 current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.30.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,522,722.15. This trade represents a 46.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $2,079,332.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

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.