Defender Capital LLC. Purchases 3,262 Shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

Defender Capital LLC. increased its stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,870 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares during the quarter. ESAB accounts for approximately 1.4% of Defender Capital LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Defender Capital LLC.'s holdings in ESAB were worth $3,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 323.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other ESAB news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total transaction of $189,630.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $125.45. 153,726 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,589. ESAB Corporation has a 12-month low of $88.54 and a 12-month high of $135.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $123.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.26.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 16.98%. The business had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. ESAB's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESAB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 target price on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research 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, ESAB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.22.

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.