Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

ESI has been the subject of several other reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Element Solutions stock opened at $25.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.40 and a 200-day moving average of $26.65. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $21.42 and a 52-week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.52 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 149.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355,554 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,607 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 549.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,981 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $32,364,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth $21,889,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products.