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 trimmed its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 71.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,591 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,747 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ESI. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,787,542 shares of the company's stock worth $40,416,000 after acquiring an additional 224,758 shares during the period. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter worth $457,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 11.3% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 321,007 shares of the company's stock worth $7,258,000 after purchasing an additional 32,486 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 1,707.2% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 14.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 302,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,846,000 after buying an additional 37,377 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.1%

ESI stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.45. 1,264,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,378,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $24.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.03. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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