Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 3,653 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 62.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,532 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,653 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in ESAB were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in ESAB by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,546,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,200,000 after purchasing an additional 20,741 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,202,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,176,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,195,048 shares of the company's stock worth $143,370,000 after purchasing an additional 34,992 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,712,000 after purchasing an additional 428,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 778,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,346,000 after buying an additional 180,875 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Trading Up 2.4 %

ESAB stock traded up $2.72 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $118.02. The stock had a trading volume of 28,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,902. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $118.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.81.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. On average, equities analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI raised shares of ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.75.

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.