Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.91 and last traded at $45.5050, with a volume of 178171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ESI. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.57.

Element Solutions Trading Up 3.4%

The firm has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 57.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 125,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 3.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 27.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.