Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ESI. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Element Solutions stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $26.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,274,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,008. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $21.42 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 28.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 149.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355,554 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company's stock worth $67,085,000 after buying an additional 1,529,607 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,364,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions during the third quarter worth about $21,889,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,289,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,458,000 after purchasing an additional 676,432 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.