ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.43.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued 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 started coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of ESAB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut ESAB from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

ESAB Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:ESAB traded up $2.81 on Tuesday, hitting $119.60. The stock had a trading volume of 50,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,615. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $125.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.33. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a 1 year low of $82.64 and a 1 year high of $135.97. 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 (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.49%.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other ESAB news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ESAB

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company's stock worth $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 33.5% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company's stock worth $114,989,000 after purchasing an additional 271,459 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ESAB by 19.7% during 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,110,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in ESAB by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company's stock worth $233,512,000 after buying an additional 127,714 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.