Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 6,500 put options on the company. This is an increase of 574% compared to the typical volume of 965 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ESI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 154.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,837,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,790,381. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $37.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 3.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.67.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 40.51%.

About Element Solutions

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.