Intech Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in ESAB by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ESAB in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 2,147 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ESAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.14.

ESAB Stock Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $122.89 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $135.97.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

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.