Short Interest in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Grows By 8.7%

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the August 31st total of 1,950,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.77. 1,740,967 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,975. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Element Solutions has a twelve month low of $17.57 and a twelve month high of $28.68. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.38.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The company 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%. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 1,585.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Element Solutions by 14,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.