ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• ESAB's stock rating has been upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Stifel Nicolaus, with a target price of $141.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.86% from its previous close.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36, surpassing analysts' expectations, and had revenue of $715.59 million, which is higher than consensus estimates of $670.80 million.
• Insiders have recently sold shares, with significant transactions from Olivier Biebuyck and Rhonda L. Jordan, highlighting a possible trend in insider activity as 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $141.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ESAB. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.88.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB stock traded down $1.91 on Thursday, reaching $109.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 114,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 312,184. ESAB has a 52 week low of $93.15 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The company has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $124.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total transaction of $189,630.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were 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 $2,000,881.61. This trade represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 204.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 320 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 706.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 363 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in ESAB during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 1,128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. 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.