ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Sets New 12-Month High at $108.71

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $108.71 and last traded at $108.54, with a volume of 15472 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ESAB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.75.

ESAB Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.53.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. ESAB had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 17.57%. The business had revenue of $689.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In related news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other ESAB news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,352,437. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 in the last ninety days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 120,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,458,000 after purchasing an additional 4,957 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 48,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 221.3% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 10,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 24,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,101,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 83,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Company Profile

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.