Mizuho Increases Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Price Target to $29.00

Key Points

• Mizuho has raised its price target for Element Solutions (NYSE: ESI) from $27.00 to $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.43% from the stock's previous close, and maintains an "outperform" rating.
• Other analysts like UBS Group and KeyCorp have also increased their price targets to $30.00, with overall consensus rating for Element Solutions being "Buy" with an average target price of $27.63.
• Element Solutions reported earnings of $0.37 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.0%.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Mizuho from $27.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Mizuho's target price suggests a potential upside of 8.43% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ESI. UBS Group increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Fermium Researc upgraded Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.63.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.75. 196,499 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,465,241. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.18 and a 200 day moving average of $23.06. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 9.66%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In related news, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total value of $1,327,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,522,722.15. This represents a 46.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $2,079,332.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,399 shares of company stock valued at $4,492,561 over the last 90 days. 6.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 101.9% during the first quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,424,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,653,000 after buying an additional 2,738,250 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 12.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,932,851 shares of the company's stock worth $563,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688,056 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 134.6% in the second quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,426,156 shares of the company's stock worth $77,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,691 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 61.7% in the second quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 4,656,299 shares of the company's stock worth $105,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 131.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,861,197 shares of the company's stock worth $64,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,819 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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