Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Purchases Shares of 175,477 ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 175,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,046,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.29% of ESAB as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 871.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 12,140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.14.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $115.92 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. As a group, equities analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

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.