Fmr LLC Sells 570,379 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

FMR LLC decreased its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,515,325 shares of the company's stock after selling 570,379 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 7.65% of Element Solutions worth $470,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Element Solutions by 610.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.92. 779,961 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,815,512. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The company's 50-day moving average price is $24.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

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Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 31.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ESI shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.88.

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.