Natixis Advisors L.P. Reduces Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Natixis Advisors L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 857,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,265 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.36% of Element Solutions worth $19,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESI. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $86,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,706 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Element Solutions by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,719,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,232,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,154,000 after acquiring an additional 798,662 shares during the period. Albar Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,812,000. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,550,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,010,000 after acquiring an additional 270,984 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ESI shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $27,120.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 146,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Element Solutions news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 146,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,341,964. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $23.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 44.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.63. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $17.53 and a 1 year high of $25.81.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $588.17 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.62% and a return on equity of 13.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

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.