HighTower Advisors LLC Makes New $215,000 Investment in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 33.5% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,989,000 after buying an additional 271,459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at $15,110,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in ESAB by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,512,000 after acquiring an additional 127,714 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the second quarter worth $8,277,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 8.6% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 749,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,706,000 after purchasing an additional 59,447 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $122.35 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $124.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $82.44 and a 1-year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.43.

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.