ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Up 8.9% – Still a Buy?

ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) was up 8.9% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $75.67 and last traded at $75.95. Approximately 151,848 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 731,466 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESAB. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $133.00 price objective (down from $151.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on ESAB from $125.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded ESAB from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $114.00 price target on ESAB in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on ESAB from $135.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ESAB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.67.

ESAB Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.14.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $824.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.68 million. ESAB had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 14.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.40 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $95,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in shares of ESAB by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of ESAB in the first quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of ESAB in the third quarter valued at about $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

About ESAB

ESAB Corporation (NYSE: ESAB) is a global provider of welding and cutting technologies. The company develops and supplies equipment, consumables, automation solutions and related products used to join, cut and process metals across industrial and commercial applications.

Its product portfolio includes welding machines, cutting systems, welding electrodes and wires, filler metals, gas-control equipment, plasma and oxyfuel technologies, and digital or automated solutions. ESAB also offers products and services designed to support fabrication, manufacturing, construction, transportation, energy and maintenance operations.

ESAB serves customers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region through a portfolio of established brands and distribution channels.