Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 907,736 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,954 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Element Solutions worth $23,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Element Solutions by 610.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESI. Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.38.

Element Solutions Stock Up 2.8 %

Element Solutions stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.22. 709,707 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,928,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.13. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.73 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. Element Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.89%.

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.