Sapience Investments LLC Has $3.06 Million Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Sapience Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,547 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,539 shares during the period. ESAB comprises about 1.8% of Sapience Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sapience Investments LLC's holdings in ESAB were worth $3,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,538,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $904,118,000 after purchasing an additional 225,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in ESAB by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,546,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,200,000 after buying an additional 20,741 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,202,568 shares of the company's stock worth $264,176,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,589,000 after acquiring an additional 318,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,888,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,529,000 after acquiring an additional 31,248 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.22.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In other ESAB news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total value of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,965,807.35. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 60,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,519. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $119.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.52. 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 (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $678.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $633.66 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

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