Fmr LLC Increases Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Fmr LLC boosted its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 127,714 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 3.63% of ESAB worth $233,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 55.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in ESAB by 629.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the second quarter worth about $92,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $129.08 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.99. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $76.08 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 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 the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. ESAB’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESAB. Bank of America increased their target price 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. raised their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.00% 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.