Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Now Covered by Bank of America

Research analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) in a research report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.71% from the company’s current price.

ESI has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. William Blair set a $48.00 price target on Element Solutions in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Element Solutions Trading Down 3.7%

Element Solutions stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.23. 200,587 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,666,769. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.31, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.26.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The company had revenue of $977.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 339.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,098,000 after purchasing an additional 344,950 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,894,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,825,000 after purchasing an additional 712,466 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 872,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,726,000 after purchasing an additional 37,204 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Element Solutions during the first quarter valued at $400,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Element Solutions by 258,233.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 93,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after buying an additional 92,964 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.