ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,427 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,510 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.31% of ESAB worth $22,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $100,712,000 after purchasing an additional 428,770 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 337,983 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 190,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 6.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,512,000 after purchasing an additional 127,714 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB stock opened at $119.89 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.36.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. On average, research analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.