Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 2,066 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,934 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,712,000 after acquiring an additional 428,770 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after buying an additional 337,983 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,989,000 after buying an additional 271,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after buying an additional 190,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.14.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB opened at $121.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a 52-week low of $88.54 and a 52-week 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $122.43 and its 200-day moving average is $118.28.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.41%.

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.