Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 14.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,802 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Element Solutions by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 46,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 13.8% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Element Solutions by 7.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Element Solutions by 39.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 50,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $29.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.05. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $20.31 and a 1 year high of $29.16.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

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.