ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,800 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the December 15th total of 616,500 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 281,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital upped their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of ESAB by 871.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in ESAB by 629.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $123.99 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a 1 year low of $83.21 and a 1 year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

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.