LPL Financial LLC Acquires 102,022 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 597.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,105 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 102,022 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Element Solutions were worth $3,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,195,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Element Solutions by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 387,799 shares of the company's stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 17,124 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on 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 target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Element Solutions Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ESI traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $18.72. 1,902,375 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,989,118. Element Solutions Inc has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.68. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio 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.