AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 174,163 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,238,378 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 174,163 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.51% of Element Solutions worth $31,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESI. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 23,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,103 shares of the company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,398 shares of the company's stock worth $2,502,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America upgraded Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.38.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,753,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,945,433. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. The business's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.