Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Hits New 1-Year High at $25.64

Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.64 and last traded at $25.49, with a volume of 168583 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. TheStreet raised Element Solutions from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.60.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.79.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $573.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.43 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 5.06%. The firm's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares in the company, valued at $16,341,964. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares in the company, valued at $16,341,964. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $27,120.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,394,090.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110 over the last three months. 7.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,984 shares of the company's stock worth $6,329,000 after buying an additional 23,529 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,710 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,912 shares of the company's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $101,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 93,764 shares of the company's stock worth $2,053,000 after purchasing an additional 11,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

About Element Solutions

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.