Raymond James & Associates Increases Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,914 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,520 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.09% of Element Solutions worth $5,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 13.8% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 39.4% in 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 last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 2.1% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $27.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.18, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $17.76 and a twelve month high of $28.68.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Element Solutions 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.