Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Cut to “Hold” at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Fermium Researc raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $25.39 on Monday. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $16.77 and a twelve month high of $27.97. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.91.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 9.58%.The company had revenue of $656.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 306,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,285,760. This trade represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 117,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,122,653.80. This trade represents a 23.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1,245.7% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 123,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 114,605 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in Element Solutions by 169.5% in the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 194,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 122,320 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 436.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 90,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 73,931 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $20,041,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 244,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,527,000 after buying an additional 79,433 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.