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 dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $52,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,847,510. This trade represents a 94.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Element Solutions Stock Performance

ESI stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.31. The stock had a trading volume of 40,230,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,603,909. The firm has a market cap 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 current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.34. Element Solutions Inc has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $29.78.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.24 million. Element Solutions had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 14.68%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Element Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESI. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Element Solutions by 16.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Element Solutions by 209.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 321,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,736,000 after buying an additional 217,624 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Element Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,889,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Element Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $495,000. Institutional investors own 92.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ESI shares. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Element Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Element Solutions from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Element Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Element Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Element Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

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.