706,570 Shares in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Bought by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has acquired a **new position** in Element Solutions Inc., purchasing **706,570 shares** valued at approximately **$15.98 million**.
• The company declared a **quarterly dividend** of **$0.08 per share**, resulting in an annualized yield of **1.3%**, with a payout ratio of **32.00%**.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 706,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,976,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.29% of Element Solutions at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 12.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after buying an additional 2,688,056 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,800,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1,431.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,143,869 shares of the company's stock worth $25,863,000 after buying an additional 1,069,160 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,041,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Element Solutions by 31.0% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,753,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 651,251 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given 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 an average target price of $27.38.

Element Solutions Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Element Solutions stock traded up $0.72 on Wednesday, hitting $25.50. The company had a trading volume of 967,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,045,216. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.26. Element Solutions Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.30 and a 200-day moving average of $23.06.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 1.3%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.00%.

Element Solutions 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.