Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.83.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESI. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Element Solutions Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ESI stock opened at $26.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.48. Element Solutions has a 12-month low of $21.42 and a 12-month high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 28.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $5,668,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,672,000 after purchasing an additional 49,466 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 26,753 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at $1,161,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 96.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 108,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 52,973 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.