ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Price Target Raised to $131.00

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $131.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

ESAB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.57.

ESAB Stock Up 0.0 %

ESAB stock opened at $123.82 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.02. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. ESAB has a 1-year low of $85.79 and a 1-year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ESAB will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,771,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,027 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.