Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• Beat expectations: Element Solutions reported Q earnings of $0.41 EPS (vs. $0.38 expected) and revenue of $840.0 million (vs. $764.16M expected), with revenue up 41.5% year‑over‑year.
• The stock slipped to $38.79 after the release; the company trades at a P/E of 49.1 with a $9.45 billion market cap and recently paid a $0.08 quarterly dividend (0.8% yield, 40.5% payout ratio).
• Wall Street sentiment is positive with a consensus "Buy" and an average price target of $37, while Director E. Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares, cutting his stake by about 49.3%.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The company had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $764.16 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Element Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock traded down $1.58 on Tuesday, reaching $38.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,474,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,812,656. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.10, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.92. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $19.74 and a 52-week high of $41.20.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 40.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESI. Freedom Capital raised shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,011 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is 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.