Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Lifted to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ESI. Mizuho increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Element Solutions Price Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $35.00 on Monday. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.84.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $995.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.23 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 5.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $1,317,663,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Element Solutions by 36.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,667,000 after acquiring an additional 798,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Element Solutions by 30.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,650,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,498,000 after acquiring an additional 624,759 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $82,230,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Element Solutions by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,221,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,841,000 after purchasing an additional 180,898 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE: ESI) is a specialty chemicals company that develops and produces materials used in electronics manufacturing and a range of industrial applications. Its products are designed to support processes such as printed circuit board fabrication, semiconductor packaging, electronic assembly, metal finishing, and surface treatment.

Through its electronics-focused businesses, including MacDermid Alpha Solutions, the company supplies solder materials, electronic assembly chemicals, circuit board materials, and semiconductor packaging solutions.