Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ESI opened at $25.48 on Wednesday. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $21.42 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.59. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.83%.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 0.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 46,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 33,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Element Solutions by 16.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

About Element Solutions

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.