Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 533,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,573,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Element Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Element Solutions by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in Element Solutions by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Element Solutions by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ESI stock opened at $26.23 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $23.10 and a twelve month high of $29.78.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 31.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.14.

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.