Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.91 and last traded at $45.5050, with a volume of 178171 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESI. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Element Solutions from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.57.

Element Solutions Trading Up 3.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.46.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.The business 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 company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Element Solutions by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Element Solutions

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.