Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 685 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,318 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at about $918,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at about $891,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in ESAB by 202.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,828,000 after purchasing an additional 46,046 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,062,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in ESAB by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 169,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,894,000 after buying an additional 6,086 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,361,918.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other ESAB news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $248,688.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,352,437. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,361,918.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 in the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $107.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.74. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.03 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.61.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $689.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.51 million. ESAB had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 17.57%. ESAB’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

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.