Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,383 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,383 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ESAB were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 871.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.14.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $120.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.43 and its 200 day moving average is $118.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. ESAB Co. has a 52-week low of $88.54 and a 52-week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is 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.