KBC Group NV Increases Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

KBC Group NV grew its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,531 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in ESAB were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the second quarter valued at $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 629.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the second quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 181.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.14.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $122.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $76.08 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

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.