Ian Ashken Sells 292,000 Shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Director Ian Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $7,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 306,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,285,760. This represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.67. 2,271,901 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,463,131. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.36.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.13 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 9.58%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $30.00 price target on Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 76,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.