ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Downgraded by Evercore ISI to Underperform

Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) from an in-line rating to an underperform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $122.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $102.00.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.71.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $124.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $76.08 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.71. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that ESAB will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 116,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,836,000 after buying an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Jade Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,211,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 2,277.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 93,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,359,000 after buying an additional 89,826 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,811,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 5,764.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

About ESAB

ESAB Corporation engages in the formulation, development, manufacture, and supply of consumable products and equipment for use in cutting, joining, automated welding, and gas control equipment. Its comprehensive range of welding consumables includes electrodes, cored and solid wires, and fluxes using a range of specialty and other materials; and cutting consumables comprising electrodes, nozzles, shields, and tips.