435,890 Shares in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 435,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,281,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 6.2% during the third 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. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 21.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,028,000 after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 19.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after acquiring an additional 190,583 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 33.5% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,989,000 after acquiring an additional 271,459 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $125.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a 52 week low of $88.54 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $122.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.80.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is 7.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.14.

ESAB 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.