Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 48,958 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Cerity Partners LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 48,958 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Element Solutions worth $4,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,573,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 11.5% in 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 period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,890 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,297 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ESI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.13.

Element Solutions Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.72. 1,834,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,040,935. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.27.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 14.42%. Element Solutions's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 26.89%.

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.