Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $47.80 and last traded at $46.6330, with a volume of 1447 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ESI. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.57.

Element Solutions Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.44 and its 200 day moving average is $34.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.The firm had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $710.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.61%.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 151.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 778 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Element Solutions by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.