Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,244,795 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 249,280 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Element Solutions worth $565,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 597.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 119,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 102,022 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $1,195,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Element Solutions by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 387,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 17,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $22.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.30. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.24 million. On average, analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESI shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial began coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

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.