Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 90,000 Shares of ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 112.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 170,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.28% of ESAB worth $16,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in ESAB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,006,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,457,000 after purchasing an additional 45,841 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,852,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,864,000 after acquiring an additional 613,327 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in ESAB by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,945,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,430,000 after acquiring an additional 560,678 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,300,000 after acquiring an additional 16,466 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in ESAB by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,181,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,008,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $141.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ESAB from $148.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Roth Capital upped their target price on ESAB from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

ESAB Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $86.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. ESAB Corporation has a 1 year low of $82.18 and a 1 year high of $137.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.90.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). ESAB had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 7.11%.The business had revenue of $745.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. ESAB’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that ESAB Corporation will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.20%.

About ESAB

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company’s products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.