Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 37,377 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 14.1%, purchasing an additional 37,377 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 302,800 shares valued at approximately $6.8 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc., also significantly increased their stakes, indicating growing confidence in Element Solutions, which is now 92.32% owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Analysts have mixed views on Element Solutions, with price targets ranging from $27.00 to $30.00, while the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Buy".

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,800 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,377 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Element Solutions worth $6,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 23,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted 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 valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.9% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 47,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Element Solutions stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.70. 1,342,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,189. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.04. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. Element Solutions's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $27.38.

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.