Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires 25,842 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 55.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,168 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,842 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 610.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Element Solutions by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America raised Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

ESI opened at $18.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.37%.

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.

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