Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) was upgraded by research analysts at Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:ESI opened at $33.35 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.20. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $37.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.22, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its 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. Element Solutions had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,250,992.64. The trade was a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 126.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 115,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after acquiring an additional 64,433 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,822,000 after acquiring an additional 139,751 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the third quarter worth $1,185,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Element Solutions by 28.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,609,000 after acquiring an additional 916,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.