Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 79.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,612 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,753 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 14.7% in 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 buying an additional 676,432 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,319,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,320,000 after acquiring an additional 230,793 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 149.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Element Solutions by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,541,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,216,000 after purchasing an additional 18,791 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,529,607 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

ESI traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.96. 788,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,051,110. Element Solutions Inc has a one year low of $21.42 and a one year high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.51. The company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. Element Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.83.

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.