Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 7,319 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 237% compared to the average daily volume of 2,172 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Freedom Capital upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.57.

Element Solutions Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of NYSE:ESI traded down $2.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.89. 3,928,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,942,534. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.27. Element Solutions has a one year low of $20.80 and a one year high of $45.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.30.

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

Insider Activity

In other Element Solutions news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 151.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 778 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.