Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Trading Down 7% – Time to Sell?

Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)’s share price was down 7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $44.39 and last traded at $44.36. Approximately 1,379,279 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 2,961,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.57.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 73.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.82.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 5.32%.The business had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $710.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,069,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,512 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 134.6% in the second quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,426,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,691 shares in the last quarter. Jain Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 253.3% in the fourth quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 2,127,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,195 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 4,492.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,545,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,430 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,119,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,273 shares during the period. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.