Element Solutions' (ESI) "Hold (C+)" Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed Element Solutions' stock rating at "hold (C+)," indicating a cautiously stable outlook for investors.
• UBS Group and other firms have raised their price targets for Element Solutions, with UBS increasing it from $30.00 to $32.00, reflecting a positive sentiment in the market.
• Despite a solid quarterly earnings report exceeding estimates, recent insider selling raises questions about the confidence of executives in the company's near-term performance.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI stock opened at $26.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.30. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.37.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The company had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.45 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Element Solutions news, EVP Carey J. Dorman sold 40,725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $1,085,728.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 214,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,727,554.42. The trade was a 15.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,522,722.15. This trade represents a 46.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 154.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 710.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

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.

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