Strs Ohio Reduces Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Strs Ohio trimmed its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,262 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned 0.18% of ESAB worth $9,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 2,222.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,545,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,391,000 after buying an additional 2,436,338 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,517,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,386 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 2,239.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,569,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,611 shares during the period. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the second quarter worth $54,191,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,892,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,077,000 after buying an additional 566,224 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $106.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $101.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.00. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.37 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is 7.14%.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In related news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the business’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 owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,352,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,985. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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