ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Cut to “Hold” at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $130.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $138.00.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI downgraded ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.14.

ESAB Stock Performance

NYSE:ESAB opened at $122.01 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. ESAB has a twelve month low of $76.08 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ESAB will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in ESAB by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,424,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,316,000 after purchasing an additional 653,377 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 7.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,827,000 after acquiring an additional 29,453 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of ESAB by 44.3% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 64,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after acquiring an additional 19,721 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in ESAB by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by 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.