BNP Paribas Financial Markets Makes New Investment in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 24,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,970,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of ESAB by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of ESAB by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ESAB opened at $128.36 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.40.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $678.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $633.66 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is 9.01%.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In related news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total value of $185,839.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $136.67.

ESAB Company 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.

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