Atria Investments Inc Raises Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 30.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,279 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in ESAB by 20.4% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 5.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in ESAB in the third quarter worth about $278,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 7.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in ESAB by 20.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $125.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.32 and a 200 day moving average of $117.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $88.54 and a 12-month high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. On average, research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.14.

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.