Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Up 72.2% in March

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,720,000 shares, an increase of 72.2% from the February 28th total of 1,580,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Element Solutions Stock Performance

ESI stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.96. 2,691,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,691,909. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $22.71 and a 1 year high of $29.78. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. On average, equities analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.37%.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,244,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,685,000 after buying an additional 249,280 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,209,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,468,000 after purchasing an additional 209,441 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,026,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,825,000 after purchasing an additional 146,570 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,319,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,320,000 after purchasing an additional 230,793 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,555,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,456,000 after purchasing an additional 14,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.