Short Interest in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Grows By 8.7%

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the August 31st total of 1,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Element Solutions by 1,585.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 39.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ESI traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,740,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,975. 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 fifty-two week low of $17.57 and a fifty-two week high of $28.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.85, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.38.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company had revenue of $613.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.95 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 59.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.40.

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.