WCM Investment Management LLC Has $38.29 Million Stake in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Key Points

• WCM Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Element Solutions Inc. by 1.0%, now holding approximately 1,680,000 shares valued at $38.29 million.
• Element Solutions received several positive ratings upgrades, with Mizuho raising the target price from $27.00 to $29.00 and KeyCorp increasing theirs to $30.00.
• The company reported a 2.0% year-over-year revenue growth with earnings per share of $0.37, exceeding analyst expectations for the quarter.

WCM Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,679,998 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,267 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned about 0.69% of Element Solutions worth $38,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter worth $36,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Element Solutions by 462.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in Element Solutions by 940.6% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Element Solutions by 71.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. 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. Fermium Researc raised shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.75.

Element Solutions Stock Up 1.4%

Element Solutions stock opened at $25.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.31. The company's 50-day moving average is $25.61 and its 200-day moving average is $23.11. Element Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.30.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,522,722.15. The trade was a 46.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,324,078.30. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 168,399 shares of company stock valued at $4,492,561. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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