Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 30,833 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,080 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,833 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Element Solutions by 610.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 5.4 %

NYSE ESI traded down $0.99 on Tuesday, hitting $17.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,785,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,658. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.80 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.72 and its 200 day moving average is $25.99. 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. The company had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. As a group, analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.