Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,099 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $24,169,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,440,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,063,000 after acquiring an additional 41,312 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 108.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 17,879 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,065,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,096,000 after purchasing an additional 19,055 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.8 %

ESI stock opened at $24.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.33. Element Solutions Inc has a 12 month low of $23.10 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. Equities analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc 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 Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.37%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.