Signaturefd LLC Raises Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,849 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 47.2% in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,719,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,756 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,232,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,154,000 after acquiring an additional 798,662 shares during the last quarter. Albar Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth about $7,812,000. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 11.9% in the third quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,550,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,010,000 after purchasing an additional 270,984 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock opened at $23.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 3.24. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $25.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 43.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.32.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company 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 14.02%. Element Solutions’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 59.26%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 11,604 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $269,212.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,327,947.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110 over the last ninety days. 7.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

About Element Solutions

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.