Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 1,431.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,143,869 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,069,160 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Element Solutions worth $25,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 23,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,297 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,502,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 7.1% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,319 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.70. 2,254,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,039,404. Element Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.23 and its 200 day moving average is $23.30. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.56%. Element Solutions's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 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 was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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, Truist Financial raised shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.25.

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.