ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ESAB. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.88.

ESAB Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of ESAB opened at $112.3130 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.27. ESAB has a 12-month low of $93.15 and a 12-month high of $135.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $715.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.80 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. ESAB’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,000,881.61. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $459,774.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,007 shares of company stock worth $841,630 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in ESAB by 3.1% in 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 8.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,387,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,158,000 after acquiring an additional 185,058 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 1.6% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,123,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,043,000 after acquiring an additional 33,015 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 5.9% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,043,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,385,000 after acquiring an additional 114,744 shares during the period. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 41.5% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,385,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,983,000 after acquiring an additional 406,057 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Company 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.