Intech Investment Management LLC Invests $333,000 in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 104.3% in 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in ESAB by 21.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 19.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 6.2% in 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 during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.14.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $122.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.90 and its 200 day moving average is $119.14. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

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

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.