ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Price Target Raised to $131.00

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $131.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on ESAB. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $123.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.30. ESAB has a 52-week low of $85.79 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,512,000 after purchasing an additional 127,714 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in ESAB by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,028,000 after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after purchasing an additional 190,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,989,000 after purchasing an additional 271,459 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by 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.