Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Receives $25.60 Average Target Price from Analysts

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.60.

ESI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $27,120.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $27,120.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 1,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $32,712.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,109,021.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110 over the last quarter. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,684,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,390,000 after purchasing an additional 188,350 shares in the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT grew its position in Element Solutions by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 280,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,501,000 after buying an additional 9,758 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,644,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,242,000 after acquiring an additional 183,562 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,730,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,934,000 after acquiring an additional 45,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ESI opened at $23.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.15. The firm has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.32. 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 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $25.81.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders 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 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.