Royce & Associates LP Sells 107,540 Shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 614,902 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,540 shares during the quarter. ESAB accounts for about 0.8% of Royce & Associates LP's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.01% of ESAB worth $71,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at about $590,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 1,128.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 880,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,605,000 after purchasing an additional 443,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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 increased their target price for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 target price on ESAB in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.89.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $131.78. The company had a trading volume of 514,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.80 and a 200-day moving average of $122.17. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.26. ESAB Corporation has a 12-month low of $88.54 and a 12-month high of $135.97.

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

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This is a boost from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total value of $189,630.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Company 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.