Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the November 30th total of 1,590,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESI shares. Wolfe Research raised Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ESI traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.43. 789,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,346,815. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $21.42 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,061,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,799,000 after buying an additional 60,100 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Element Solutions by 16.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 61,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 8,491 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $453,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.