Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ESI. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Element Solutions from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $27.60.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $26.46 on Wednesday. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.57 and a fifty-two week high of $27.08. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 49.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.43.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $588.17 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.62% and a return on equity of 13.96%. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 59.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 370.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 1,585.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.