Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ESI. Barclays boosted their price target on Element Solutions from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Element Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Element Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Element Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESI opened at $25.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. Element Solutions has a one year low of $21.42 and a one year high of $29.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.65. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.52 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 149.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,934,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,698,000 after buying an additional 2,355,554 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,470,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,607 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Element Solutions by 549.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,619,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,981 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,364,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,889,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.32% 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.