Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson trimmed its stake in Element Solutions by 3.1% in Q4, selling 137,285 shares and now holds 4,289,160 shares (about 1.77% of the company) worth roughly $107.19 million, making ESI its 25th-largest holding.
• Director E. Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares on Feb. 20 at an average price of $35.52 for about $5.10 million, cutting his position nearly 49.3%; company insiders own 6.9% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and a $35.75 average price target after multiple firms raised targets, and the company recently beat quarterly revenue and EPS estimates.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. decreased its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,289,160 shares of the company's stock after selling 137,285 shares during the period. Element Solutions makes up about 1.0% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 1.77% of Element Solutions worth $107,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Element Solutions by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 115,531 shares of the company's stock worth $2,908,000 after buying an additional 64,433 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,822,000 after acquiring an additional 139,751 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the third quarter worth about $1,185,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company's stock worth $105,609,000 after purchasing an additional 916,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 147,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESI. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Monday, February 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $32.34 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $32.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.27. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.93, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a current ratio of 3.68. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $37.74.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 40.51%.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company's solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ESI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.