Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 5.4%, owning approximately 0.42% of the company worth $22.79 million after selling 57,637 shares.
• Multiple institutional investors adjusted their positions, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. increasing its stake by 80.4% in the fourth quarter, now holding 2.92 million shares valued at $74.28 million.
• Element Solutions reported $0.37 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share with a yield of 1.4%.

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,007,867 shares of the company's stock after selling 57,637 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.42% of Element Solutions worth $22,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $886,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 8.7% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 129,474 shares of the company's stock worth $2,927,000 after acquiring an additional 10,369 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Element Solutions by 25.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 70,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,590,000 after buying an additional 14,079 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.8% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,508,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,715,000 after purchasing an additional 67,888 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ESI traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.11. 476,966 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,645,492. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.26. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.13.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESI shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial raised Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.