Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.93 Million Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC has increased its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. by 23.8%, now owning 129,155 shares valued at approximately $2.93 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Gates Capital Management and Vanguard Group, significantly increased their stakes in Element Solutions during the first quarter, contributing to institutional ownership of over 92% in the company.
• Element Solutions recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 32.00%.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,155 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,871 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of Element Solutions worth $2,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ESI. Gates Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 101.9% during the 1st quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,424,745 shares of the company's stock worth $122,653,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738,250 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688,056 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions by 131.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,861,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,692,000 after buying an additional 1,622,819 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 1,431.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,143,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,863,000 after buying an additional 1,069,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carey J. Dorman sold 40,725 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $1,085,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 214,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,727,554.42. This trade represents a 15.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $2,079,332.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 168,399 shares of company stock valued at $4,492,561 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $25.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average is $25.61 and its 200-day moving average is $23.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a current ratio of 4.10. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.77 and a 52 week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Element Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

Element Solutions Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ESI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.