American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,140,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162,859 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $130,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESI. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 8.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at $495,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,299,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,458,000 after buying an additional 38,859 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 40.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,672,000 after acquiring an additional 49,466 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 441.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 125,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 102,175 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE ESI opened at $25.31 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Element Solutions Inc has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.37%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.