Northern Trust Corp Acquires 224,758 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 14.4%, owning approximately 1.79 million shares valued at $40.4 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Element Solutions Inc. reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.37, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $625.20 million, marking a 2.0% increase from the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share set to be paid on September 15th, which translates to an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,787,542 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 224,758 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.74% of Element Solutions worth $40,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 940.6% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 311.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,126 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,469 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Caption Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE ESI traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.11. 1,615,453 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,343. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.