AlphaQuest LLC Sells 35,747 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC has reduced its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 71.0%, now holding 14,591 shares valued at approximately $330,000 after selling 35,747 shares in the first quarter.
• Several analysts have recently increased their target prices for Element Solutions, with UBS and KeyCorp setting new targets at $30.00, while Goldman Sachs revised its target to $27.00.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, reflecting a 1.2% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date set for September 2nd.

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 71.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,591 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,747 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 12.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after buying an additional 2,688,056 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,026,543 shares of the company's stock worth $127,825,000 after acquiring an additional 146,570 shares during the last quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,680,449 shares of the company's stock worth $83,215,000 after acquiring an additional 505,983 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,753,606 shares of the company's stock worth $62,259,000 after acquiring an additional 651,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gates Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,686,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,318,000 after purchasing an additional 134,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,631,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,036. The company's 50 day moving average price is $24.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 32.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.