Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $47.80 and last traded at $46.6330, with a volume of 1447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.57.

Element Solutions Stock Up 1.4%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $710.51 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.The firm’s revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions by 339.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,098,000 after acquiring an additional 344,950 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,894,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,825,000 after acquiring an additional 712,466 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 872,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,204 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $400,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 258,233.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 93,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 92,964 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.