Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the August 31st total of 1,950,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Element Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI traded down $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $26.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,740,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,975. The company has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.85, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.57 and a fifty-two week high of $28.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 12,138 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 1,585.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Element Solutions by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 116,142.9% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 49,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.