Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 42.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,929,099 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 570,895 shares during the quarter. ESAB makes up about 1.6% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 3.18% of ESAB worth $224,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 544,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,484,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 11,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 76,771 shares of the company's stock worth $8,944,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,511,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently weighed in on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.38.
View Our Latest Stock Report on ESAB
Insider Activity at ESAB
In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total value of $192,225.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 7,007 shares of company stock worth $841,630 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.
ESAB Price Performance
ESAB traded down $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.44. 323,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 566,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.95. ESAB Corporation has a 12-month low of $93.15 and a 12-month high of $135.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.49. The company has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.27.
ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.
About ESAB
(
Free Report)
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.
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