Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Shares Sold by New South Capital Management Inc.

New South Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,667,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 102,437 shares during the quarter. Element Solutions makes up 1.8% of New South Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. New South Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.69% of Element Solutions worth $37,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $623,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 110.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 30,953 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $1,031,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $423,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESI. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.00. 1,335,804 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,001,855. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $29.78. The stock's 50 day moving average is $21.81 and its 200 day moving average is $23.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.89%.

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.