ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.22.

ESAB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

ESAB Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:ESAB traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.85. 335,637 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 272,749. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.32 and a 200 day moving average of $122.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. ESAB has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.31.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. ESAB's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that ESAB will post 5.16 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a boost from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is 9.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total value of $189,630.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total transaction of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of ESAB by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 0.7% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,602 shares of the company's stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company's stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.