Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 430 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,297 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,209,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,468,000 after purchasing an additional 209,441 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,319,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,320,000 after acquiring an additional 230,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,541,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,216,000 after acquiring an additional 18,791 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Element Solutions by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,562,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,174,000 after acquiring an additional 19,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Element Solutions

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ESI shares. StockNews.com lowered Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays cut 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $24.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 2.77. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $23.10 and a 1 year high of $29.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.79 and its 200-day moving average is $26.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions’s dividend 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.