Royce & Associates LP Acquires 59,447 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 749,752 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 59,447 shares during the quarter. ESAB comprises about 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.24% of ESAB worth $79,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the company's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in shares of ESAB by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ESAB by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,123 shares of the company's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value 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 $6,627,789.92. This trade represents a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.71.

ESAB Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $2.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $124.11. 289,368 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,621. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $76.08 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The stock's fifty day moving average is $110.55 and its 200 day moving average is $103.45.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

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

ESAB 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.