Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Holdings Lifted by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,426,445 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 129,590 shares during the period. Element Solutions makes up about 1.0% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.83% of Element Solutions worth $111,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 459.4% in the first quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 8,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Element Solutions by 339.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,098,000 after buying an additional 344,950 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,894,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,825,000 after buying an additional 712,466 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $676,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter worth $281,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $27.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.05 and a quick ratio of 3.28. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $27.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.34.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 306,880 shares in the company, valued at $8,285,760. The trade was a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,122,653.80. The trade was a 23.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

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.