Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 11,702 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,709 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,702 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Element Solutions by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 173,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 3,949 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Element Solutions by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 29,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 6,949 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Element Solutions by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 221,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in Element Solutions by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE:ESI opened at $25.34 on Thursday. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $23.10 and a 1-year high of $29.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.74 and a 200 day moving average of $26.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. 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.