Investors Purchase High Volume of Element Solutions Put Options (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 6,500 put options on the company. This is an increase of 574% compared to the typical volume of 965 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CJS Securities raised shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America raised 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.97. 1,837,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,790,381. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $16.77 and a fifty-two week high of $37.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 3.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.67. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 40.51%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In other news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the business’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 sale, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,250,992.64. The trade was a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 339.3% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,098,000 after buying an additional 344,950 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 60.3% during 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 during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.5% during 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 valued at $19,726,000 after acquiring an additional 37,204 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $400,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Company 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.