Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also commented on ESI. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average of $24.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.31. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $17.57 and a 52 week high of $28.68.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 8.24%. The firm had revenue of $613.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 59.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Element Solutions by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,684,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,390,000 after purchasing an additional 188,350 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 273,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,320,000 after purchasing an additional 24,852 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Finally, Iridian Asset Management LLC CT raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 280,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 9,758 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.