Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 9,353,928 shares, a drop of 37.4% from the June 30th total of 14,942,159 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 8,608,646 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth about $591,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 10.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 9,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 48,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ESI. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research set a $47.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Element Solutions Price Performance

NYSE ESI traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,968,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,301,852. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.19. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $22.63 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $977.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $873.19 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 56.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.24%.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.