Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $34.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.91. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.42.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $873.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Element Solutions by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,524,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,077,000 after purchasing an additional 174,228 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Element Solutions by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 189,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,000 after buying an additional 59,154 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,363,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 36.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,667,000 after buying an additional 798,923 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Element Solutions by 2,818.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 68,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,340,000 after buying an additional 66,194 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.