Brokerages Set Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) Target Price at $35.75

Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.75.

ESI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Freedom Capital upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.1%

ESI opened at $39.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.29. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 49.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.23. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $17.77 and a 52 week high of $39.60.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.48%.The company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $632.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director E Stanley Oneal sold 143,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.52, for a total value of $5,099,393.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 147,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,250,992.64. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 115,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after acquiring an additional 64,433 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,256,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,822,000 after acquiring an additional 139,751 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,185,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,195,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,609,000 after acquiring an additional 916,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,479,000 after acquiring an additional 562,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Company Profile

Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company’s solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives.

In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies.