T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Trims Position in ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in ESAB Corporation by 9.9%, selling 882,577 shares, and now holds approximately 13.22% of the company valued at $933.77 million.
• ESAB’s stock recently traded at $113.14, with a 52-week range from $93.15 to $135.97, and a market capitalization of $6.87 billion.
• The company reported earnings of $1.36 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and revenue of $715.59 million, a 1.3% increase from the previous year.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,015,180 shares of the company's stock after selling 882,577 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 13.22% of ESAB worth $933,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in ESAB by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 11,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in ESAB by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 76,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,944,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at about $24,511,000. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ESAB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.38.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,007 shares of company stock valued at $841,630. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock traded up $0.35 on Monday, reaching $117.49. 84,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 323,712. ESAB Corporation has a 52 week low of $93.15 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.38 and a 200 day moving average of $121.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.