Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 243.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,819 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,145 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,684,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,390,000 after purchasing an additional 188,350 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Element Solutions by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,762,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,782,000 after acquiring an additional 118,237 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 10,622.4% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 848,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,636,000 after purchasing an additional 840,653 shares during the period. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,700,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,497,000 after purchasing an additional 150,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albar Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 100.2% in the fourth quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 797,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,452,000 after purchasing an additional 399,070 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ESI shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESI traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.86. 320,654 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,391,238. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.99. Element Solutions Inc has a fifty-two week low of $17.57 and a fifty-two week high of $27.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.63. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.31.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $588.17 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 5.62% and a return on equity of 13.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.26%.

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.