Strs Ohio Has $9.19 Million Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Strs Ohio reduced its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,093 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,262 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.18% of ESAB worth $9,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ESAB by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,517,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $399,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,386 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in ESAB by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,578,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,724,000 after buying an additional 63,948 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in ESAB by 2.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,539,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $268,119,000 after buying an additional 119,073 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 24.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,892,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $203,077,000 after buying an additional 566,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ESAB by 2,222.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,545,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,391,000 after buying an additional 2,436,338 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ESAB from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.75.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $105.79. 130,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 238,067. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.54. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.37 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.00.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $689.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $85,172.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $85,172.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total value of $741,125.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at $3,361,918.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.