ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $117.93, but opened at $113.56. ESAB shares last traded at $116.74, with a volume of 14,650 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI downgraded ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in ESAB by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH grew its stake in ESAB by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 9,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in ESAB by 3,069.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 29,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 28,302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.