California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 19,810 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,810 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in ESAB were worth $11,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after buying an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in ESAB by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 32,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of ESAB by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $254,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Down 5.0 %

ESAB opened at $107.25 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.82 and a 200 day moving average of $120.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $88.54 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The company has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $636.43 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.30%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised ESAB from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.75.

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.