Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 502,552 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. has reduced its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 36.2%, selling over 500,000 shares and now holding approximately 884,347 shares valued at $19.99 million.
• Other hedge funds are actively altering their positions in Element Solutions, with Park Square Financial Group and SVB Wealth both initiating new stakes in the company, highlighting a growing institutional interest in 92.32% of the stock.
• Element Solutions recently reported $0.37 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 to be paid on September 15th with a yield of 1.2%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lowered its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 36.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 884,347 shares of the company's stock after selling 502,552 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.36% of Element Solutions worth $19,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ESI. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions by 940.6% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Element Solutions by 311.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Element Solutions by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 97,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,323. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $24.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.00.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.45 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average 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.