Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Position Cut by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 597,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 436,362 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Element Solutions worth $19,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 76.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Element Solutions by 0.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 454,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,530,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $26,446,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,667,000 after acquiring an additional 798,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 501,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,131,000 after purchasing an additional 4,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Freedom Capital raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Element Solutions Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE ESI opened at $37.47 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.52. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.63 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.43, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $710.51 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.The company’s revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors 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 yield of 0.9%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.61%.

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.