Homestead Advisers Corp Grows Stock Holdings in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

Homestead Advisers Corp increased its position in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,776 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp owned about 0.10% of ESAB worth $6,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in ESAB by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 32,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $590,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total transaction of $189,630.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total transaction of $185,839.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ESAB Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:ESAB traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.94. The company had a trading volume of 205,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,195. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $124.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. ESAB Corporation has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $135.97.

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

ESAB Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on ESAB from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.89.

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.