VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $540,000 in ESAB Corporation $ESAB

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 756 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 1st quarter worth approximately $590,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in ESAB by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in ESAB by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 15,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 3,623 shares during the period. Finally, Shilanski & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in ESAB by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 19,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the company’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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total value of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $119.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.95. ESAB Corporation has a 52 week low of $100.17 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.08 and a 200-day moving average of $120.06.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. ESAB had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 9.36%.The business had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ESAB shares. Zacks Research downgraded ESAB from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ESAB in a research note on Saturday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ESAB from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.11.

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.