ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Acquired by Van Berkom & Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in ESAB Corporation by 8.3%, now owning 332,015 shares worth approximately $38.7 million.
• ESAB reported an EPS of $1.25 for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.18, despite a 1.7% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10, up from $0.08, reflecting a positive change and a total annual yield of 0.30%.

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 332,015 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,485 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of ESAB worth $38,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 122.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in ESAB by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 132,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,909,000 after acquiring an additional 9,930 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in ESAB by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,330,000 after acquiring an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In related news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total value of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,965,807.35. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESAB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on ESAB from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 target price on ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.89.

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE ESAB traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $131.22. The stock had a trading volume of 60,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,196. The firm's 50 day moving average is $124.88 and its 200 day moving average is $122.34. ESAB Corporation has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.26.

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

ESAB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were 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 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.01%.

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.