Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Short Interest Update

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the December 15th total of 1,470,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the second quarter worth $5,668,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Element Solutions by 40.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,672,000 after purchasing an additional 49,466 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,161,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 96.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 108,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 52,973 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 549.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America reiterated 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Element Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.83.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESI traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.96. 788,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,051,110. Element Solutions has a 12 month low of $21.42 and a 12 month high of $29.78. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.83%.

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.