Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Element Solutions has a consensus “Buy” rating from 13 brokerages, with seven buy ratings, four strong-buy ratings and two holds. Analysts’ average 12-month price target is $46.70, compared with a recent share price of $34.30.
• Institutional investors own 92.32% of ESI, with major positions added or increased by BlackRock, California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Bank of New York Mellon, Invesco and Scopus Asset Management.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.47 versus a $0.43 consensus estimate and revenue of $977.9 million, up 56.4% year over year. ESI also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, representing a 0.9% annualized yield.

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.70.

ESI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. William Blair set a $48.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Freedom Capmkts upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $1,317,663,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Element Solutions by 4,566.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,778,378 shares of the company's stock worth $610,168,000 after purchasing an additional 12,504,547 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $110,892,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,069,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 134.6% in the second quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,426,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,602,000 after buying an additional 1,965,691 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI stock opened at $34.30 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $37.23 and its 200-day moving average is $38.48. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $49.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.26.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $977.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $873.19 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.24%.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc NYSE: ESI is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies engineered materials and process technologies for the electronics, industrial and energy markets. Its products are used in manufacturing, assembly, protection and performance-enhancement applications across a range of industries.

The company's electronics products support printed circuit board fabrication, semiconductor packaging and assembly, and other electronic component manufacturing processes.

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