Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 fund owned 1,143,869 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,069,160 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Element Solutions worth $25,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 23,979 shares of the company's stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 4.0% in 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 position in Element Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,761 shares of the company's stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Element Solutions by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,398 shares of the company's stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 7.1% during the 1st 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.25.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.6%

Element Solutions stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.70. 2,254,052 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,035,484. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.32. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $29.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $576.73 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Element Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. 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.