Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ESAB were worth $123,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in ESAB by 32.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 181.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,321,000 after acquiring an additional 21,025 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in ESAB by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,827,000 after purchasing an additional 29,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in ESAB during the second quarter worth $92,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $129.51 on Wednesday. ESAB Co. has a 1 year low of $82.44 and a 1 year high of $135.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.89. The company has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 over the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.