Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 468 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $48,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESI. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Element Solutions by 79.0% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26,753 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 40.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,672,000 after purchasing an additional 49,466 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 96.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 108,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 52,973 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $433,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 549.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after buying an additional 1,369,981 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

ESI stock opened at $26.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.38. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $23.09 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 31.37%.

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.