ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 616,500 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 652,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 276,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESAB has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in ESAB by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,321,000 after buying an additional 21,025 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the second quarter valued at $2,139,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the second quarter worth $179,000. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $119.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $125.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.00. ESAB has a 52 week low of $82.44 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.49%.

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.