ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 622,800 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 669,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 241,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ESAB by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of ESAB by 871.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Stock Up 2.0 %

ESAB stock traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.73. The company had a trading volume of 421,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,686. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.06. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on ESAB from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI cut ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

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.