Cooke & Bieler LP Reduces Stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its holdings in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 772,551 shares of the company's stock after selling 92,241 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 1.27% of ESAB worth $90,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 204.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 320 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ESAB by 1,128.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 323.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total value of $189,630.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,965,807.35. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ESAB traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.10. 241,426 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 276,511. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.26. The business's fifty day moving average price is $124.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.91. ESAB Corporation has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.66 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 16.98%. ESAB's revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This is an increase from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. ESAB's payout ratio is 9.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ESAB. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on ESAB in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.22.

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.