Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C+) Rating for Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a Hold (C+) rating for Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI), with the stock currently trading at $26.34.
• The consensus rating for Element Solutions among analysts is Buy, with a target price of $27.88.
• Insider selling activity has been noted, with EVP John Edward Capps and another executive selling significant shares, indicating potential shifts in ownership dynamics.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ESI. Fermium Researc raised shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Element Solutions from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,758,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,742. Element Solutions has a 1 year low of $16.77 and a 1 year high of $29.78. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock's 50 day moving average is $25.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.08. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 9.66%.The business had revenue of $625.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Element Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 609,790 shares in the company, valued at $16,324,078.30. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Matthew Liebowitz sold 50,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 57,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,522,722.15. This represents a 46.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 168,399 shares of company stock worth $4,492,561. Insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,149 shares of the company's stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 5,966 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 2,339.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,420 shares of the company's stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 35,886 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 67,402 shares of the company's stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 6,790 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $549,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,873,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

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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