Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $1.48 Million in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 54,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,475,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESI. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at $1,518,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $44,527,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Element Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $613,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 243.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 72,145 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Element Solutions by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,061,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,485,000 after acquiring an additional 298,668 shares in the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Element Solutions Price Performance

ESI stock opened at $27.01 on Friday. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $17.57 and a 1 year high of $28.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.34.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $613.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESI has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com raised Element Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Element Solutions from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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.