Bailard Inc. Buys New Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,719,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,756 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,232,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,154,000 after buying an additional 798,662 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,684,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,390,000 after buying an additional 188,350 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Element Solutions by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,362,000 after buying an additional 1,412,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 11.9% during the third quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,550,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,010,000 after acquiring an additional 270,984 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $24.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.43. Element Solutions Inc has a 12-month low of $17.53 and a 12-month high of $25.81.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The company had revenue of $573.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Element Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Element Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.60.

Insider Activity at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $27,120.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,090.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Carey J. Dorman sold 1,410 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $32,712.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 177,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,021.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Goralski sold 1,169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $27,120.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,090.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,203 shares of company stock worth $2,255,110 in the last 90 days. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.