Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.40.

ESI has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Element Solutions by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 12,138 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,762,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,782,000 after buying an additional 118,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $25.71 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.29. Element Solutions has a 12-month low of $17.57 and a 12-month high of $28.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 47.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $613.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.95 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Element Solutions Company 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.