Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Stake Boosted by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 149.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,934,310 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,355,554 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $106,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,518,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $44,527,000. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $613,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 243.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 72,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 16.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,061,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,485,000 after purchasing an additional 298,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Element Solutions stock opened at $26.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.30. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $17.57 and a fifty-two week high of $28.68.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $613.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.95 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 8.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 59.26%.

Element Solutions Profile

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.