Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high of $38.49 (last $38.20) on strong volume, valuing Element Solutions at about $9.3 billion.
• Multiple analysts raised price targets—UBS to $43, KeyCorp to $36, Mizuho to $35—leaving a consensus rating of Buy with a $35.75 consensus target.
• Q2 earnings beat estimates with $0.37 EPS vs. $0.36 expected and revenue of $676.2M vs. $632.4M (up 8.3% YoY); the company pays a $0.08 quarterly dividend (0.8% yield).

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.49 and last traded at $38.20, with a volume of 2481978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Freedom Capital raised Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.75.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.03.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Element Solutions's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 154.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at $47,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.