Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Shares Acquired by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 61.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 162,075 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,775 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Element Solutions worth $4,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 96.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 108,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 52,973 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $1,947,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26,753 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 94.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI stock traded up $0.10 on Monday, hitting $22.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,626,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,303. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $29.78.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Element Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.38.

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.