Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 301,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,968 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Element Solutions were worth $7,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 610.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In related news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial began coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $25.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.34. Element Solutions Inc has a twelve month low of $23.10 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.