ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of ESAB worth $13,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in ESAB by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ESAB by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE ESAB opened at $122.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $88.54 and a 1-year high of $135.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.52.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.14.

About ESAB

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.