Argent Capital Management LLC Makes New $4.79 Million Investment in Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Argent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 140,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESI. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 339.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,098,000 after acquiring an additional 344,950 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,894,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,825,000 after purchasing an additional 712,466 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 872,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,726,000 after purchasing an additional 37,204 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $400,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Element Solutions by 258,233.3% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 93,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 92,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESI. UBS Group raised their price objective on Element Solutions to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Element Solutions Stock Up 3.0%

ESI stock opened at $36.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.19. Element Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.63 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 5.67%.The firm had revenue of $977.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $873.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 56.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.24%.

Element Solutions 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.