ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 116,856 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,113 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.19% of ESAB worth $14,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ESAB by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.22.

ESAB Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ESAB traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $123.20. The company had a trading volume of 171,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,553. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $119.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $633.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total value of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ESAB Profile

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.