Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Cut to "Hold" at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho downgraded Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from strong-buy to hold, which appears to be the main catalyst behind the news.
• The stock was trading down 3.9% at $39.07, while analysts overall still show a consensus “Buy” rating with a $43.00 average target price.
• Element Solutions recently posted better-than-expected Q2 results, with EPS of $0.41 versus the $0.38 estimate and revenue of $840 million above forecasts.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ESI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Element Solutions Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of ESI opened at $39.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $22.63 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.36.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $710.51 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.Element Solutions's revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 778 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 57.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Element Solutions

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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