ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,564 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,976 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of ESAB worth $4,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ESAB by 55.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 629.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $128.41 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $81.00 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.79.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.00.

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.