JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Price Target to $133.00

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $135.00 to $133.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ESAB. Loop Capital upped their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.43.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $120.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $122.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.91. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. 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 data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. The company had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.43 million. Research analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in ESAB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in ESAB by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.