Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Price

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.14.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $25.32 on Monday. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $21.42 and a 1 year high of $29.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.51 and its 200 day moving average is $26.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.83%.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its position in Element Solutions by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,607 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Element Solutions by 549.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,981 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $21,889,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth about $14,553,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 43.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,134,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,757,000 after purchasing an additional 344,017 shares during the period. 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.