Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Down 9.8% in October

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decline of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 216,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,378,093. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 3.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.57. Element Solutions has a one year low of $17.76 and a one year high of $28.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.29.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESI has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 14,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Element Solutions by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.