Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Stock Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,957 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in ESAB were worth $6,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. FMR LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 24.3% during 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of ESAB by 6,624.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 379,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,836,000 after purchasing an additional 373,441 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,376,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,672,000 after purchasing an additional 276,558 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter worth about $11,502,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,404,000 after purchasing an additional 64,715 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $104.94 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $57.53 and a one year high of $114.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.27 and a 200 day moving average of $90.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.65.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.93 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $248,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,352,437. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $85,172.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,510.50. 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 three months. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.