Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Sells 15,739 Shares of ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its holdings in ESAB Corporation by 48.0%, selling 15,739 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 17,036 shares valued at approximately $1,985,000.
• Insider transactions revealed that director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares at an average price of $113.05, while insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares at an average price of $133.49, contributing to a total of 7,007 shares sold by insiders valued at $841,630 in the last quarter.
• In recent analyst ratings, ESAB received a target price adjustment from several firms, with a current average target of $137.88, reflecting a general sentiment of a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its stake in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 48.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,036 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,739 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's holdings in ESAB were worth $1,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in ESAB by 0.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in ESAB by 0.6% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 37.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 204.8% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 320 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.38.

ESAB Stock Down 0.6%

ESAB stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $116.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 166,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,163. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $122.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.62. ESAB Corporation has a twelve month low of $93.15 and a twelve month high of $135.97. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $715.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.80 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. ESAB's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $459,774.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,007 shares of company stock worth $841,630 over the last 90 days. 7.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.