Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 28.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,054 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,958 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of Element Solutions worth $4,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,469 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,644 shares of the company's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised their target price on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.13.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $24.24 on Thursday. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.95.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $576.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 26.89%.

Element Solutions 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.

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