State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,097 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,097 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in ESAB were worth $2,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESAB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in ESAB in the second quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 629.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 181.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESAB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $126.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.55 and a 200 day moving average of $103.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $76.08 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid 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 0.25%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

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.