51,826 Shares in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Acquired by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has made a new investment in Element Solutions Inc., acquiring 51,826 shares valued at approximately $1,172,000.
• Major institutional investors, including Gates Capital Management and Vanguard Group, have significantly increased their stakes in Element Solutions, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Element Solutions, with a consensus price target of $27.38 and a consensus rating of "Buy."

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 51,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,172,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 940.6% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 311.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1,707.2% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE ESI traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.52. The company had a trading volume of 6,265,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,960,193. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.97 and a 200 day moving average of $23.03. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $625.20 million for 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. Element Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.00%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total value of $1,327,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,522,722.15. The trade was a 46.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey J. Dorman sold 40,725 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Fermium Researc raised shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $27.38.

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.