Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,551,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 737,538 shares during the quarter. Element Solutions accounts for about 1.2% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $121,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESI. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESI. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.57.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $46.02 on Monday. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.28 and a 1-year high of $46.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 74.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.15.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $710.51 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 51.61%.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.