Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,709 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,702 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 46,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $25.34 on Thursday. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $23.10 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.74 and its 200 day moving average is $26.37. 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 company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 31.37%.

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.