Barclays PLC Boosts Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,513 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,027 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.05% of ESAB worth $3,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 629.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 12,140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $121.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $124.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.82. 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 $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. ESAB Co. has a 52 week low of $82.44 and a 52 week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESAB. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI cut shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.