Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI – Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 28,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Element Solutions in the first quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 32.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,845 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $100,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the first quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Element Solutions by 19.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESI. Mizuho reduced their price target on Element Solutions from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 7th. Barclays upgraded Element Solutions from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Element Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.25.

Element Solutions Price Performance

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $681.97 million. Element Solutions had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 6.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Element Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 1st were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Element Solutions's payout ratio is 49.23%.

Element Solutions Company Profile

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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.

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