AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,622,819 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 131.0% during the 1st quarter, acquiring a total of 2,861,197 shares valued at approximately $64.7 million.
• Element Solutions reported earnings of $0.37 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 2.0% to reach $625.2 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.2%.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 131.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,861,197 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,622,819 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 1.18% of Element Solutions worth $64,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 479.7% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 67,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 55,933 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 48.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,716,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,805,000 after purchasing an additional 560,346 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $623,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,196 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 110.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 30,953 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $26.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,205,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,309. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $24.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.98. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.31. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.38.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.