Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,968 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in ESAB were worth $476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. FMR LLC raised its position in ESAB by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,512,000 after purchasing an additional 127,714 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in ESAB by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,028,000 after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $123,353,000 after acquiring an additional 190,583 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,712,000 after purchasing an additional 428,770 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $122.89 on Wednesday. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $88.54 and a 1-year high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.14. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ESAB 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.