Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

ESI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI stock opened at $25.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.65. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions has a 12-month low of $21.42 and a 12-month high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 149.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355,554 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,085,000 after buying an additional 1,529,607 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 549.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,983,000 after buying an additional 1,369,981 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $32,364,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at $21,889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% 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.