Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 2,018,009 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 3,552,582 shares.The stock last traded at $36.45 and had previously closed at $36.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. William Blair set a $48.00 price target on Element Solutions in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Element Solutions Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.65 and a 200 day moving average of $38.34. The company has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.26.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.The company had revenue of $977.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $873.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,524,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,077,000 after acquiring an additional 174,228 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 189,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,767,000 after purchasing an additional 59,154 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 36.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,667,000 after acquiring an additional 798,923 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,708,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth $8,363,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.