New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 7,565 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 57,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,565 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of ESAB worth $4,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in ESAB during the third quarter worth about $295,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of ESAB by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 519,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in ESAB by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in ESAB by 20.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $104.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.27 and a 200-day moving average of $90.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.98. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.53 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.93 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is 6.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given 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 $93.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total value of $741,125.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,361,918.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other ESAB news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,361,918.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

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.