Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $24.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $29.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.8 %

ESI stock opened at $18.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.68. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $16.77 and a 12 month high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.94%. The company had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 31.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other Element Solutions news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 610.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

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.