Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) EVP John Edward Capps Sells 77,674 Shares

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) EVP John Edward Capps sold 77,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $2,079,332.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 609,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,324,078.30. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $26.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.77 and a 52-week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $625.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.45 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 14.14%. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 32.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Element Solutions by 210.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 10,776 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Element Solutions by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 10,315 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Element Solutions by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Element Solutions by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 835,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,240,000 after acquiring an additional 51,460 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Fermium Researc upgraded shares of Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.38.

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.