Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 269 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,317 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of ESAB worth $7,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of ESAB by 28,250.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 6,586.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESAB. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ESAB has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.75.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $110.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.84. ESAB Co. has a 52-week low of $57.53 and a 52-week high of $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.55.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.93 million. ESAB had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 6.28%.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $248,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,352,437. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $85,172.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,352,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,985. 7.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.