KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 700 Shares of ESAB Corporation $ESAB

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS decreased its position in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,733 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in ESAB by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,387,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,158,000 after purchasing an additional 185,058 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,929,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,740,000 after purchasing an additional 570,895 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new position in ESAB during the 1st quarter worth approximately $114,067,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 916,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in ESAB by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 880,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,605,000 after purchasing an additional 443,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total value of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,000,881.61. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESAB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ESAB in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ESAB from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.44.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $115.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.69 and its 200 day moving average is $119.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.23. ESAB Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $100.17 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $715.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.80 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm’s quarterly 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, equities research analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. ESAB’s payout ratio is 9.57%.

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.