ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Upgraded at Loop Capital

Key Points

• ESAB has been upgraded to a "Buy" rating by Loop Capital, with a price target increase from $130.00 to $140.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.83% from its previous close.
• Despite the upgrade, JPMorgan has lowered its target price on ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00, while Robert W. Baird set a target of $143.00, reflecting mixed analyst sentiment.
• ESAB reported Q2 earnings of $1.36 EPS, surpassing expectations, and had revenues of $715.59 million, showcasing a year-over-year revenue growth of 1.3%.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Loop Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $140.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $130.00. Loop Capital's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.23% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Zacks Research downgraded ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.38.

ESAB Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ESAB traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $117.42. 182,610 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50 day moving average is $122.18 and its 200-day moving average is $121.62. ESAB has a 52 week low of $93.15 and a 52 week high of $135.97.

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

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,007 shares of company stock valued at $841,630 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in ESAB by 8.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,387,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,158,000 after buying an additional 185,058 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ESAB by 1.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,123,958 shares of the company's stock worth $256,043,000 after buying an additional 33,015 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 5.9% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,043,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,385,000 after buying an additional 114,744 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of ESAB by 41.5% during the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,385,176 shares of the company's stock worth $166,983,000 after acquiring an additional 406,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,272,604 shares of the company's stock worth $153,432,000 after acquiring an additional 12,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

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.