Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Price Target Raised to $33.00

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Element Solutions from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.50.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $29.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.75 and a 200-day moving average of $25.91. The company has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Element Solutions has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $30.21.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.13 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 9.58%.Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,653.80. This represents a 23.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 306,880 shares in the company, valued at $8,285,760. This represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $391,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 422.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 44,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 35,805 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 202,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Element Solutions by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 77,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Element Solutions by 345.9% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.