Brokerages Set Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) PT at $29.40

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.40.

Several research analysts have issued reports on ESI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 12,138 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,762,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,782,000 after buying an additional 118,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $25.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.24. Element Solutions has a 1-year low of $17.57 and a 1-year high of $28.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 47.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

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.