Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Shares Down 7% – Here’s What Happened

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) fell 7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $44.39 and last traded at $44.36. 1,379,279 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 2,961,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESI. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.57.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.74.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 151.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 778 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position 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. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. 92.32% of the stock is 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.