Ascent Group LLC Makes New $215,000 Investment in ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 204.8% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 706.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 1,128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of ESAB by 323.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $459,774.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.49, for a total transaction of $192,225.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,000,881.61. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Stock Up 2.1%

ESAB stock opened at $119.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ESAB Corporation has a twelve month low of $100.17 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.23.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. ESAB had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $715.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. ESAB’s payout ratio is 9.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESAB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital raised ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on ESAB in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.44.

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.