Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,580,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 3,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 6,579 shares of the business’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 $152,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 726,399 shares in the company, valued at $16,852,456.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 6,579 shares of the business’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 $152,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 726,399 shares in the company, valued at $16,852,456.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the business’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 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 $3,394,090.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110. 7.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter worth $215,000. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter worth $202,000. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter worth $205,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $251,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $278,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.5 %

ESI traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,430,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,038. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 49.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.05 and a 200-day moving average of $21.99. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $573.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.43 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESI has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.60.

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.