Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Stock Price

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $131.00 to $125.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.11% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ESAB. Loop Capital increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $120.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. Analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 629.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,110,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,556,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.