ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $137.22.

Several analysts recently commented on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded ESAB from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other ESAB news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total transaction of $185,839.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,965,807.35. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total transaction of $189,630.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in ESAB by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $124.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $123.71 and its 200 day moving average is $121.30. ESAB has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 16.98%. The firm had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $633.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.01%.

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.