ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Short Interest Update

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 43.8% from the August 31st total of 778,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 238,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on ESAB from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.67.

ESAB Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ESAB traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.51. 148,418 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,932. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. ESAB has a 1-year low of $61.43 and a 1-year high of $114.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.68. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.42.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $707.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that ESAB will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 8.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in ESAB by 302.6% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in ESAB by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.