Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Hits New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Element Solutions hit a new 52-week high of $39.91 on Friday with ~1.07M shares traded, trading above the consensus price target of $35.75.
• The company beat estimates this quarter—EPS $0.37 vs. $0.36 and revenue $676.2M vs. $632.4M—posting 8.3% revenue growth and solid liquidity (current ratio 3.68, quick ratio 3.00).
• Several analysts have raised ratings and price targets (consensus "Buy"), though a director sold 143,564 shares (a ~49% reduction in their holding), while institutional ownership remains high at ~92.3%.

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $39.91 and last traded at $39.8950, with a volume of 1070344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ESI shares. KeyCorp increased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.53 and its 200 day moving average is $29.58. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.06, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.Element Solutions's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.51%.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 147,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 125,877 shares of the company's stock worth $3,146,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,200 shares of the company's stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 27.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,011 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 6.2% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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