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 report published on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Trading Down 0.0 %

ESI stock opened at $26.97 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.53. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.76 and a fifty-two week high of $28.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 3.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm had revenue of $613.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Element Solutions by 149.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,698,000 after buying an additional 2,355,554 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $44,527,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,364,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,289,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,458,000 after buying an additional 676,432 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions by 43.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,134,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,757,000 after buying an additional 344,017 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.