Element Solutions Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 7,319 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 237% compared to the average daily volume of 2,172 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 339.3% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,098,000 after buying an additional 344,950 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 60.3% in the first 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 872,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,726,000 after buying an additional 37,204 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter valued at $400,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 258,233.3% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 93,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 92,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 5.8%

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $39.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.40. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $20.80 and a fifty-two week high of $45.51.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.