ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 29.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,934 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,080 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of ESAB worth $14,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 11.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,424,115 shares of the company's stock worth $710,316,000 after purchasing an additional 653,377 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in ESAB by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 531,122 shares of the company's stock worth $50,154,000 after buying an additional 27,202 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in ESAB by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,321,000 after acquiring an additional 21,025 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 466,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,595,000 after acquiring an additional 34,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the first quarter worth $33,811,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB traded down $2.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 289,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,621. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $76.08 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $111.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million for 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $144.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.71.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% 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.