New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,247 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,281 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in ESAB were worth $2,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in ESAB by 55.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in ESAB in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 23.4% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in ESAB by 28,250.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $107.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.59 and a 200 day moving average of $86.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.54. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $55.37 and a 12-month high of $114.77.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $689.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.51 million. ESAB had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 17.57%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $85,172.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at $3,361,918.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 over the last three months. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.75.

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.