Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Up 28.3% in March

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 28.3% in March to 12,855,609 shares (about 5.6% of shares sold short), producing a days-to-cover ratio of 4.7 based on average daily volume.
• Element Solutions beat Q results with $0.37 EPS (vs. $0.36 expected) and $676.2M revenue, pays a $0.08 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.32, 0.9% yield), and has a $9.14B market cap with a consensus "Buy" rating and $35.75 average target.

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 12,855,609 shares, an increase of 28.3% from the March 15th total of 10,016,956 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,735,776 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $37.52 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average of $29.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $17.77 and a 1-year high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 3.00.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.Element Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is presently 40.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $35.75.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company's solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.

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