Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 16,078 ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 16,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 6.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,512,000 after acquiring an additional 127,714 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,028,000 after buying an additional 55,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in ESAB by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after buying an additional 190,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,712,000 after buying an additional 428,770 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $122.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $122.90 and its 200 day moving average is $119.14.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. Research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.14.

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.