Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 2,018,009 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 3,552,582 shares.The stock last traded at $36.45 and had previously closed at $36.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wolfe Research set a $47.00 price objective on Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.The company had revenue of $977.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 57.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.