Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 1,100 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 20.4% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 5.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 20.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.14.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB opened at $123.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.30. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Equities research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 7.41%.

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.