Short Interest in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Declines By 7.5%

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a decrease of 7.5% from the November 30th total of 1,590,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Element Solutions Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ESI traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.43. The stock had a trading volume of 789,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,815. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.65. Element Solutions has a one year low of $21.42 and a one year high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 549.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,981 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 45,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Element Solutions by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 51,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,676,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,541,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,216,000 after buying an additional 18,791 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products.