Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

ESI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. CJS Securities raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE ESI opened at $31.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $37.74.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 125,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.