Peregrine Capital Management LLC Buys 14,748 Shares of Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Element Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ESI) by 2.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 674,214 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,748 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $15,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 11,702 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $395,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Element Solutions by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,155,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,396,000 after buying an additional 76,652 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Element Solutions by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after buying an additional 1,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $423,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE ESI opened at $22.84 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.42. Element Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $29.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.23.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The business had revenue of $593.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $576.73 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ESI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America upgraded Element Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

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.