JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 1,301,602 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 80.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,921,021 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,301,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.21% of Element Solutions worth $74,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ESI shares. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Element Solutions in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Remove Ads

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI stock traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.40. The company had a trading volume of 5,785,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,658. The firm's fifty day moving average is $24.72 and its 200 day moving average is $25.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions Inc has a 12 month low of $16.80 and a 12 month high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm 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 predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 31.37%.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,847,510. The trade was a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.