Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Stock Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,713 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,797 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR owned about 0.08% of ESAB worth $5,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB in the first quarter valued at $3,913,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 116,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,836,000 after purchasing an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,424,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,316,000 after purchasing an additional 653,377 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,827,000 after purchasing an additional 29,453 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in ESAB by 44.3% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 64,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after buying an additional 19,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $123.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.06 and a 200-day moving average of $102.17. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $70.78 and a 12-month high of $127.33.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s payout ratio is 7.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About ESAB

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.