ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Sold by Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning trimmed its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 34.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,673 shares during the quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in ESAB were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at about $918,000. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,011,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at about $891,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in ESAB by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 154,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,342,000 after acquiring an additional 7,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in ESAB by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 53,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,630,000 after acquiring an additional 24,099 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $93.34 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.43. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.43 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.93 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 8.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESAB. Oppenheimer began coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.63.

ESAB 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.