Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Price Target Raised to $32.00

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ESI. 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 report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research raised Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions has a 52-week low of $18.19 and a 52-week high of $28.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.61.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESI. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 243.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 72,145 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 1st quarter worth $863,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 6,908 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $341,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.