New Century Financial Group LLC Takes Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 25,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,239,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter worth about $820,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda grew its stake in ESAB by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 1,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 0.4% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 161,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,867,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $104.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.42. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $61.43 and a 12 month high of $114.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.77.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. ESAB had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $707.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $686.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESAB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price target on ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

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.