Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,860,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the March 31st total of 3,580,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $1,430,674.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 704,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Benjamin Gliklich sold 61,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction 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 approximately $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $27,120.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $341,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,625 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 6,908 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $863,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 243.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,819 shares of the company's stock worth $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 72,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,204,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,442. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 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. Element Solutions has a one year low of $17.53 and a one year high of $25.81. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.35.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $588.17 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.62% and a return on equity of 14.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.26%.

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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