Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 1,038,475 Shares of ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. dramatically increased its ESAB stake by 6,787% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1,053,776 shares valued at about $117.7 million and representing 1.74% of the company.
• Analysts remain mostly positive on ESAB, with eight Buy ratings and three Hold ratings; the consensus target price is $138.22, though some firms have trimmed targets recently.
• ESAB reported mixed quarterly results and raised its dividend: revenue beat expectations at $745.6 million and rose 10% year over year, but EPS missed by $0.01. The quarterly dividend increased to $0.12 per share from $0.10.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 6,787.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,053,776 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,038,475 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 1.74% of ESAB worth $117,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in ESAB by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 51,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 11,772 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in ESAB in the first quarter worth about $10,616,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 458,339 shares of the company's stock worth $53,396,000 after purchasing an additional 94,335 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 109.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 333 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 183.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 972 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESAB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of ESAB in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Roth Mkm set a $142.00 target price on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ESAB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ESAB from $148.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $141.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.22.

ESAB Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $88.65 on Friday. ESAB Corporation has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $137.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.77 and a 200 day moving average of $111.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.01). ESAB had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 7.11%.The company had revenue of $745.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $706.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ESAB Corporation will post 5.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This is a boost from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. ESAB's payout ratio is presently 11.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total value of $7,353,621.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,362,164.56. The trade was a 37.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ESAB Company Profile

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company's products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.

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