Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Invests $326,000 in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC invested approximately $326,000 in Element Solutions Inc. by acquiring 14,404 shares during the first quarter.
• Element Solutions has received favorable ratings from several analysts, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price averaging $27.38.
• The company also announced a **quarterly dividend** of $0.08 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of **1.2%** for shareholders of record as of September 2nd.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after buying an additional 2,688,056 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 101.9% during the 1st quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,424,745 shares of the company's stock worth $122,653,000 after buying an additional 2,738,250 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,026,543 shares of the company's stock worth $127,825,000 after buying an additional 146,570 shares during the period. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,680,449 shares of the company's stock worth $83,215,000 after buying an additional 505,983 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,753,606 shares of the company's stock worth $62,259,000 after buying an additional 651,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ESI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.38.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.79. 1,093,442 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,639,371. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.31. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.77 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.00.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $625.20 million during 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. Analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

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.