Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Shares Purchased by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 171.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,816 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,931 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 610.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESI shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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. UBS Group cut their price target on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America upgraded Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $21.17 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $21.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.34. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $576.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Element Solutions 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.

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