Vest Financial LLC Acquires 64,433 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. $ESI

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 126.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 115,531 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,433 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESI. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Element Solutions by 6.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in Element Solutions by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 76,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 154.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 218,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,941,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Element Solutions news, insider Matthew Liebowitz sold 37,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $984,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,122,653.80. The trade was a 23.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 292,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $7,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 306,880 shares in the company, valued at $8,285,760. This trade represents a 48.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ESI opened at $28.98 on Friday. Element Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.77 and a 12-month high of $29.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.28.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $656.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ESI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Element Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

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.