ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• ESAB Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with two analysts recommending a hold and six recommending a buy.
• The average target price for ESAB shares among brokers is $140.3750, reflecting various adjustments made by multiple research firms recently.
• Insider transactions reveal that key executives, including Olivier Biebuyck, have sold significant shares of ESAB stock, indicating a potential shift in insider sentiment.

Shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.3750.

ESAB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $459,774.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,007 shares of company stock worth $841,630. Insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in ESAB by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the company's stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,466 shares of the company's stock worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 17,027 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in ESAB during the 1st quarter worth $590,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in ESAB by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,666 shares of the company's stock worth $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company's stock.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.44. The company had a trading volume of 323,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,172. ESAB has a 52-week low of $93.15 and a 52-week high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.34.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $670.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.