Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 0.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 46,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 33,527 shares of the company's stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the company's stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 39.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Trading Up 0.7 %

Element Solutions stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.68. 800,922 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,178,546. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $20.31 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $27.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.27.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.12%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 28.83%.

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.