LPL Financial LLC Grows Position in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 8.7% during the first quarter, now owning about $2.93 million worth of the company's stock.
• Several major institutional investors significantly grew their positions in Element Solutions, indicating strong institutional interest with 92.32% of the stock owned by such investors.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Element Solutions, with UBS Group raising its target to $30.00 and a consensus average price target of $27.38, reflecting a general positive outlook.

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,474 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,369 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.05% of Element Solutions worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,026,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,825,000 after buying an additional 146,570 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,783,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,795,000 after purchasing an additional 142,295 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,753,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 651,251 shares during the last quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,686,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,318,000 after purchasing an additional 134,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 2,593,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,946,000 after purchasing an additional 61,957 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.38.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI traded down $0.0970 on Wednesday, hitting $24.8730. 413,161 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,574,850. Element Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.03. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.