Claret Asset Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Claret Asset Management Corp decreased its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,382 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp owned 0.06% of Element Solutions worth $3,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 549.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,981 shares during the period. FIL Ltd purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,818,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $24,169,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Element Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,573,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,316,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,472,000 after buying an additional 510,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESI. Bank of America raised Element Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut their target price on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial raised shares of Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $18.94 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.51 and its 200-day moving average is $25.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions Inc has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.24 million. Equities research analysts predict that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 yield of 1.69%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Element Solutions

In other news, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total value of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

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.