Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ESI. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ESI opened at $27.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $18.19 and a twelve month high of $28.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.62.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $863,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Element Solutions by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 6,908 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $341,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Element Solutions by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 426,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.