Man Group plc Sells 2,440 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Man Group plc decreased its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,823 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,440 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in ESAB were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $81,199,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 104.3% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company's stock worth $100,712,000 after purchasing an additional 428,770 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in ESAB by 21.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company's stock worth $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in ESAB by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company's stock worth $251,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 target price on ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $185,839.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Stock Up 0.2%

ESAB stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $123.77. The stock had a trading volume of 35,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $119.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $678.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $633.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a positive change from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.01%.

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.