Versant Capital Management Inc Has $442,000 Stock Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 9,246.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,535 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,326 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,328,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,224,000 after purchasing an additional 29,253 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 11,702 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,169,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ESI stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $21.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,336,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,810,189. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.26.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

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.