First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 100.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,170 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,630 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $6,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Element Solutions by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26,753 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,328,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,224,000 after acquiring an additional 29,253 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 11,702 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $24,169,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Element Solutions Trading Up 1.2 %

Element Solutions stock opened at $20.29 on Wednesday. Element Solutions Inc has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ESI shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.