ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Given New $131.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its price target increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $131.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

ESAB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital raised their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $123.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.02. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $85.79 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Defender Capital LLC. increased its stake in ESAB by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 24,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 11,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 903 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Company Profile

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.