Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Receives $35.75 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.75.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,653.80. This represents a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $398,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 16,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,119,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,889,000 after buying an additional 1,298,273 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,069,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,512 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Element Solutions by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 34,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 13,272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock opened at $34.65 on Tuesday. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $37.74. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.86, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.85 and its 200 day moving average is $27.30. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.51%.

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.