Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded Element Solutions to “strong buy,” joining other bullish analysts. MarketBeat reports a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $46.00.
• Element Solutions exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.47 EPS versus $0.43 expected and $977.9 million in revenue, up 56.4% year over year.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock, with several large holders increasing their positions.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

ESI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. William Blair set a $48.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Freedom Capmkts raised Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $46.00.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.1%

ESI stock opened at $34.41 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $38.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.26. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.The firm had revenue of $977.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Element Solutions by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,524,090 shares of the company's stock worth $63,077,000 after buying an additional 174,228 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 189,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,767,000 after acquiring an additional 59,154 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the second quarter worth $8,363,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 36.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,977,958 shares of the company's stock worth $101,667,000 after acquiring an additional 798,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 2,818.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 68,543 shares of the company's stock worth $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 66,194 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Element Solutions

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.

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