Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

ESI has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. TheStreet upgraded Element Solutions from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Element Solutions in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $25.60.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $24.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.94. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $25.81.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $573.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.43 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 5.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,341,964. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Element Solutions news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $27,120.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $1,430,674.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,341,964. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110. 7.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,329,000 after purchasing an additional 23,529 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 93,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,053,000 after buying an additional 11,955 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.