Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on ESAB (NYSE:ESAB)

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.28% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus lowered ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Stock Down 0.3 %

ESAB stock opened at $127.71 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.78 and a 200-day moving average of $106.61. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $82.44 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The company has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ESAB will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the firm’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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in ESAB by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the third quarter valued at about $274,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 19.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after acquiring an additional 190,583 shares during the last quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 116.0% during the third quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 46.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,027 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.