MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 77,555 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 385.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,677 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 77,555 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,761 shares of the company's stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,103 shares of the company's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,644 shares of the company's stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ESI traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.24. 540,476 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,093,775. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ESI shares. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.38.

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.