Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Reduces Holdings in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,999,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,865 shares during the quarter. Element Solutions accounts for approximately 1.2% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Element Solutions were worth $135,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESI. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Element Solutions by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Element Solutions by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,173,000 after purchasing an additional 41,309 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Element Solutions by 2.2% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 33,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Element Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $390,000. 92.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Element Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ESI opened at $28.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.29. Element Solutions Inc has a 1 year low of $20.17 and a 1 year high of $29.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.77.

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Element Solutions had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Element Solutions’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Element Solutions Inc will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Element Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Element Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.83%.

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.