Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,440,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the October 15th total of 4,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESI. TheStreet cut Element Solutions from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. StockNews.com began coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Element Solutions from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.40.

Element Solutions Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Element Solutions stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.45. The stock had a trading volume of 749,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,256. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.23. Element Solutions has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.02. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 2.30%. The company had revenue of $599.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.50 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Element Solutions will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 145.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nichelle Maynard-Elliott sold 4,174 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.61, for a total transaction of $81,852.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $486,112.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESI. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $290,100,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,075,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 47.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,706 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,205,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Element Solutions by 5.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,627,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,749,000 after purchasing an additional 984,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.05% 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.