Martin E. Franklin Sells 2,000,000 Shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Stock

Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares of Element Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,510. This represents a 94.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ESI opened at $25.31 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.33. Element Solutions Inc has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.34.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.24 million. Research analysts expect that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 31.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESI has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

Institutional Trading of Element Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after acquiring an additional 5,966 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Element Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 162,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,122,000 after acquiring an additional 61,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Element Solutions by 234.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 44,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 31,302 shares during the last quarter. 92.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.