Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 42,395 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 94.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,348 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,395 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in ESAB were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $81,199,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company's stock worth $100,712,000 after acquiring an additional 428,770 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company's stock worth $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company's stock worth $251,589,000 after acquiring an additional 318,018 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB opened at $130.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $88.54 and a 12-month high of $135.97. The company has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $118.70 and its 200 day moving average is $122.41.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $633.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. ESAB's payout ratio is currently 9.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other ESAB news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total transaction of $185,839.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ESAB currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.67.

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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