Oak Associates Ltd. OH Increases Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Oak Associates Ltd. OH raised its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 110.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,977 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,997 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH's holdings in ESAB were worth $2,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ESAB by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of ESAB by 0.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company's stock.

ESAB Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $114.70. 60,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,854. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The stock's fifty day moving average is $119.94 and its 200 day moving average is $120.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upgraded ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.