Element Solutions Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ESI)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: traders bought 26,511 put options on ESI on Monday — a 1,638% jump versus the average daily put volume, indicating heavy bearish positioning.
• Insider selling: Director E. Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares at an average of $35.52 on Feb. 20, reducing his stake by 49.27%; insiders now own 6.20% of the company.
• Wall Street mostly positive: several firms (KeyCorp, Bank of America, UBS) raised targets and ratings, leaving a consensus "Buy" with an average target of $35.75, while shares traded near $40.40 after an earnings quarter that beat EPS and revenue estimates.

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 26,511 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,638% compared to the average daily volume of 1,525 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 154.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $35.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $40.40. 2,683,610 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,780,476. The company's 50-day moving average is $34.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 3.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.14, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $19.74 and a 1 year high of $41.20.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.40 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The business'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 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

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.

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