Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI)

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 3,062 put options on the company. This is an increase of 561% compared to the average daily volume of 463 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1,585.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of ESI stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,637,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,359,771. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $26.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.23. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $17.57 and a 52-week high of $28.68.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $613.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.95 million. Element Solutions's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

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.