Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Lifted to “Outperform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ESI. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI stock opened at $26.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $17.76 and a 1-year high of $28.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.53.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $613.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 39.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 14,600.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 13.8% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.