Royce & Associates LP Raises Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,508,421 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 67,888 shares during the quarter. Element Solutions accounts for about 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.03% of Element Solutions worth $56,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Element Solutions by 479.7% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 67,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,528,000 after buying an additional 55,933 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Element Solutions by 48.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,716,292 shares of the company's stock worth $38,805,000 after buying an additional 560,346 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the first quarter worth $623,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Element Solutions by 13.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,196 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Element Solutions by 110.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,000 after buying an additional 30,953 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Element Solutions stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.77. 571,572 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,661,936. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.95. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 26.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.13.

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.

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