ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Short Interest Update

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 43.8% from the August 31st total of 778,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 238,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ESAB by 11.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,424,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,316,000 after purchasing an additional 653,377 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the first quarter worth $33,811,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in ESAB by 2,277.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 93,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,359,000 after purchasing an additional 89,826 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,277,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 1st quarter worth about $6,174,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.67.

ESAB Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ESAB traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,932. ESAB has a 1 year low of $61.43 and a 1 year high of $114.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.92 and a 200-day moving average of $101.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. ESAB had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $707.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 8.38%.

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.