R Squared Ltd Makes New Investment in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter worth $113,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE ESI opened at $25.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $21.42 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.42. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 28.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

About Element Solutions

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.