ESAB Corporation $ESAB Shares Sold by Comerica Bank

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in ESAB Corporation by 29.6%, now holding 19,471 shares worth approximately $2.27 million after selling 8,181 shares in the first quarter.
• ESAB reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36, surpassing estimates, and achieved a revenue of $715.59 million, which represents a 1.3% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on ESAB, with six rating it as a Buy and two as a Hold, and an average price target of $140.38 for the stock.

Comerica Bank reduced its position in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,471 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,181 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in ESAB were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in ESAB by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the company's stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 37.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 38.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,466 shares of the company's stock worth $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 17,027 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in ESAB during the first quarter worth about $590,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,610 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $115.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $122.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.34. The company has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ESAB Corporation has a 1 year low of $93.15 and a 1 year high of $135.97.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.80 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 9.36%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total value of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,007 shares of company stock valued at $841,630. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Loop Capital upgraded ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.38.

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.

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