Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 251,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,054 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of ESAB worth $21,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,578,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,724,000 after acquiring an additional 63,948 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 24.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,892,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,077,000 after purchasing an additional 566,224 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,376,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,672,000 after buying an additional 276,558 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of ESAB by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 769,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,128,000 after buying an additional 13,786 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake 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 worth $36,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,838 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $109.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.97. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.53 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.55.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.93 million. ESAB had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is 6.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, 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 value of $85,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of ESAB 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 transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at $3,352,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 in the last three months. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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