ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Short Interest Update

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 788,100 shares, a growth of 35.9% from the February 13th total of 580,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 260,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and cut their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.14.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $120.83. The stock had a trading volume of 160,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,937. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The business's 50 day moving average price is $122.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.52.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in ESAB by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in ESAB by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in ESAB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in ESAB by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in ESAB by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.