F M Investments LLC Takes Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in ESAB by 871.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB traded up $0.56 on Thursday, hitting $114.05. 57,358 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 276,279. The business's fifty day moving average is $119.76 and its 200 day moving average is $120.50. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.75.

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.