Trust Co. of Vermont Increases Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 871.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 301 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in ESAB were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in ESAB by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE:ESAB opened at $123.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $124.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a 52 week low of $83.21 and a 52 week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. Corporate insiders own 7.20% 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.