Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 87.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182,935 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ESAB were worth $2,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $1,011,000. Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in ESAB by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 53,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 24,099 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in ESAB during the first quarter worth about $3,913,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 402,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,549,000 after purchasing an additional 23,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 116,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,836,000 after buying an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on ESAB from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.57.

ESAB Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $103.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $61.43 and a 1 year high of $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $707.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.75 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.38%.

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.