ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 39.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in ESAB were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESAB. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,512,000 after acquiring an additional 127,714 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,028,000 after purchasing an additional 55,458 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ESAB by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,353,000 after buying an additional 190,583 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in ESAB by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,989,000 after buying an additional 271,459 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:ESAB opened at $122.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. 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 $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.52.

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

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESAB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.14.

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.