Element Solutions Inc. $ESI Shares Sold by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 4.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,475,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 108,609 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $62,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,822,000 after purchasing an additional 139,751 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Element Solutions by 28.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,609,000 after buying an additional 916,804 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter worth $41,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 15.4% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 18,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $33.92 on Thursday. Element Solutions Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.77 and a 1 year high of $37.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a current ratio of 3.68.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. CJS Securities raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In related news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,122,653.80. This trade represents a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,250,992.64. This represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Element Solutions Profile

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.