Ethic Inc. Reduces Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Ethic Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,985 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Element Solutions by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 2,593,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,946,000 after acquiring an additional 61,957 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1,611.6% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 330,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 311,649 shares in the last quarter. Caption Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after buying an additional 10,315 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ESI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Element Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $22.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $16.77 and a 1 year high of $29.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.90. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $593.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $576.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.