ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $117.93, but opened at $113.56. ESAB shares last traded at $116.74, with a volume of 14,650 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.43.

ESAB Stock Performance

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 business’s 50 day moving average is $125.79 and its 200 day moving average is $109.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 8.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 5.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.