ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Raised to “Buy” at UBS Group

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $147.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $123.00. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.12% from the stock’s previous close.

ESAB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.75.

ESAB Trading Up 2.1 %

ESAB opened at $123.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.14. ESAB has a 52 week low of $88.54 and a 52 week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.43 million. On average, research analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ESAB

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $81,199,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,712,000 after acquiring an additional 428,770 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in ESAB by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,018 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.