State of Michigan Retirement System Buys 100 Shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,602 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 204.8% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 1,128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in ESAB by 323.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $126.60 on Tuesday. ESAB Corporation has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.27 and its 200 day moving average is $121.44. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.91.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $633.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.