ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

ESAB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on ESAB from $142.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on ESAB from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of ESAB from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $130.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

ESAB Stock Performance

NYSE:ESAB opened at $107.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. ESAB has a 1 year low of $100.17 and a 1 year high of $137.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.06 and a 200-day moving average of $116.78.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.01. ESAB had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 7.98%.The business had revenue of $720.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ESAB news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,404 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $7,353,621.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 99,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,362,164.56. The trade was a 37.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ESAB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,006,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,457,000 after buying an additional 45,841 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of ESAB by 132.4% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in ESAB by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Company Profile

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company’s products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.