Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 24,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Element Solutions by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 619,958 shares of the company's stock worth $14,017,000 after buying an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 11.2% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 67,402 shares of the company's stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 6,790 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 8.8% in the first quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,271,000 after acquiring an additional 15,358 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $585,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 129.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 506,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,443,000 after purchasing an additional 285,053 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America upgraded Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ESI traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,244,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,603. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Element Solutions Inc has a 52 week low of $16.77 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $576.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

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.