ESAB Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:ESAB)

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

ESAB has a dividend payout ratio of 5.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect ESAB to earn $5.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.9%.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB traded down $5.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.88. 427,795 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,204. 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 has a 1-year low of $82.44 and a 1-year high of $135.97. The business's 50 day moving average price is $122.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $620.50 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. ESAB's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ESAB will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded 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 note on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Evercore ISI cut shares of ESAB from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at $6,627,789.92. This trade represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.