XTX Topco Ltd Boosts Position in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in ESAB Corporation by 196.7% in the first quarter, owning 5,625 shares worth $655,000 after additional purchases.
• ESAB's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.36, beating estimates and a revenue of $715.59 million, exceeding analyst expectations of $670.80 million.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.10 per share, up from $0.08, reflecting a yield of 0.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 9.01%.

XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 196.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,625 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,729 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in ESAB were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the company's stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 37.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the first quarter worth $590,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 1,128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 101.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 880,729 shares of the company's stock worth $102,605,000 after acquiring an additional 443,574 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of ESAB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price objective on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.42, for a total value of $189,630.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,000,881.61. This trade represents a 8.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,357 shares of company stock valued at $567,695 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $4.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $111.04. The stock had a trading volume of 406,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,831. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $124.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.24. ESAB Corporation has a 12 month low of $93.13 and a 12 month high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.80 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.