Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,965 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in ESAB were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after buying an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its position in ESAB by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 32,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in ESAB by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESAB. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group raised shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.75.

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $107.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $88.54 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $121.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

ESAB 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.