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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 14.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,802 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $1,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions in the second quarter valued at $1,518,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,527,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Element Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,668,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $613,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Element Solutions Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ESI opened at $29.04 on Friday. 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 Inc has a 1 year low of $20.31 and a 1 year high of $29.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.05. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.29.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 11.08%. Element Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

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.