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

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 15,011 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,855% compared to the typical daily volume of 508 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 162.7% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company's stock worth $67,085,000 after buying an additional 1,529,607 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 549.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company's stock worth $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,981 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,818,000. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $29,800,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $24,169,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.14.

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Element Solutions Price Performance

NYSE:ESI traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.16. 3,529,756 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,402,040. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $25.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 31.37%.

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.