Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) EVP Sells $2,079,332.98 in Stock

Key Points

• John Edward Capps, EVP of Element Solutions, sold 77,674 shares of the company's stock for approximately $2.08 million, reducing his ownership by 11.3%.
• Element Solutions announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 32.00%.
• The company's stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion with a current PE ratio of 26.52, reflecting positive growth expectations among analysts with a consensus target price of $27.38.

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $2,079,332.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,324,078.30. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.3%

ESI traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.44. 2,204,160 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,960,193. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $29.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $25.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 9.66%.The firm had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is currently 32.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 2,624.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 214,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,854,000 after buying an additional 206,791 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 34,689 shares of the company's stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 664,868 shares of the company's stock worth $15,060,000 after purchasing an additional 117,620 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC raised its position in Element Solutions by 135.5% during the 2nd quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 237,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,375,000 after purchasing an additional 136,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 760,618 shares of the company's stock worth $17,228,000 after buying an additional 54,048 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.38.

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.