Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,720,000 shares, a growth of 72.2% from the February 28th total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,244,795 shares of the company's stock worth $565,685,000 after purchasing an additional 249,280 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,209,130 shares of the company's stock worth $132,468,000 after buying an additional 209,441 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Element Solutions by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,026,543 shares of the company's stock worth $127,825,000 after buying an additional 146,570 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Element Solutions by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,319,570 shares of the company's stock worth $117,320,000 after purchasing an additional 230,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,555,852 shares of the company's stock worth $90,456,000 after acquiring an additional 14,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial began coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ESI traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $22.61. The company had a trading volume of 3,223,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,011. The stock has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $22.38 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $25.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. 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.