Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $25.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $21.42 and a fifty-two week high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Element Solutions

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the second quarter worth $5,668,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 40.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,161,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 2.3% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,173,000 after purchasing an additional 41,309 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,299,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,458,000 after buying an additional 38,859 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.