Short Interest in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Expands By 13.2%

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,800 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the December 15th total of 616,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 281,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

ESAB Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $123.99 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.15. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $83.21 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.43.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other ESAB news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 21.6% during 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 period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,989,000 after buying an additional 271,459 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 3rd quarter worth about $15,110,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 6.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.