Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.6250.

A number of brokerages have commented on ESI. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th.

Element Solutions Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $26.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.06. 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 has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $2,079,332.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares in the company, valued at $16,324,078.30. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,522,722.15. This represents a 46.58% 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. 6.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 710.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.