Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $63.08 Million Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Element Solutions by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 174,228 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 2,524,090 shares worth about $63.1 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on ESI is generally bullish, with several firms recently issuing or raising buy ratings; the stock currently carries a consensus “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $39.57.
• Element Solutions reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.41 versus $0.38 expected and revenue of $840 million versus $710.5 million estimated, though the shares were still down 2.8% to $42.34 in Friday trading.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,524,090 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 174,228 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 1.04% of Element Solutions worth $63,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company's stock worth $207,822,000 after buying an additional 139,751 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,922,726 shares of the company's stock worth $123,905,000 after buying an additional 2,003,724 shares during the last quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,722,464 shares of the company's stock worth $118,864,000 after buying an additional 413,834 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company's stock worth $105,609,000 after buying an additional 916,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,434 shares of the company's stock worth $102,479,000 after buying an additional 562,205 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESI. Freedom Capital upgraded Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.57.

Element Solutions Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $42.34 on Friday. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.80 and a 52 week high of $45.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 68.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.27.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $710.51 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.Element Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total transaction of $5,099,393.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company's solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.

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