Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 457,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,400 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.19% of Element Solutions worth $11,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Element Solutions Trading Up 1.8 %

Element Solutions stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,563,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,842,303. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions Inc has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.51 and a 200 day moving average of $25.52. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $598.24 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.37%.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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.

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.