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

StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESI. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.40.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $25.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average is $26.59. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $21.42 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Element Solutions in the second quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Element Solutions by 39.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $113,000. 92.32% of the stock is 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.