Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Holdings Lifted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System significantly increased its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 490.1% in the first quarter, owning 75,407 shares worth $1.7 million.
• Element Solutions reported a Q2 EPS of $0.37, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 2.0% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $625.20 million.
• The company's stock has received favorable recommendations, with eight analysts giving a buy rating and a consensus target price of $27.38, indicating confidence in its future performance.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 490.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,407 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,629 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 12.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688,056 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $29,800,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1,431.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,143,869 shares of the company's stock worth $25,863,000 after buying an additional 1,069,160 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Element Solutions by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,716,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,805,000 after purchasing an additional 560,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.38.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI traded down $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $25.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 769,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,596,319. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50-day moving average is $23.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 9.66%. The company had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

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.