Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Boosts Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,684,109 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 188,350 shares during the period. Element Solutions makes up about 1.1% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.94% of Element Solutions worth $108,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $290,100,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,980 shares of the company's stock worth $86,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,706 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,719,174 shares of the company's stock worth $445,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,756 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,232,761 shares of the company's stock worth $377,154,000 after acquiring an additional 798,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $1,430,674.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,341,964. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 1,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $32,712.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,113 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,021.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,203 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,110. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. TheStreet upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.60.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE ESI traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $24.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,184,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,223. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $25.49. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.72 and its 200 day moving average is $21.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.43, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.