HighTower Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,040 ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in ESAB by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,321,000 after buying an additional 21,025 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth $2,139,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in ESAB during the second quarter valued at $179,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ESAB 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 market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.02. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $82.44 and a 12-month high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % 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 worth $8,431,773 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. 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 research note on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment 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, ESAB has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.43.

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.