Short Interest in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Decreases By 6.1%

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the December 15th total of 1,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 25,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 79.0% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $1,947,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

ESI traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.96. The stock had a trading volume of 788,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,110. Element Solutions has a one year low of $21.42 and a one year high of $29.78. 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’s 50 day moving average is $26.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ESI shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.83.

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.