Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 435,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,281,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.72% of ESAB at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESAB. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in ESAB by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 175,000 shares of the company's stock worth $20,990,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in ESAB by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company's stock worth $251,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,018 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in ESAB by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,532 shares of the company's stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in ESAB by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 86,788 shares of the company's stock worth $10,409,000 after buying an additional 13,897 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.75.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.47. 228,712 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,147. The firm's 50-day moving average is $119.39 and its 200 day moving average is $120.85. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a PEG 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 company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. Equities research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. ESAB's payout ratio is 7.41%.

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.