JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 302,453 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,202,568 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 3.64% of ESAB worth $264,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in ESAB by 871.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in ESAB by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised 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 research note on Monday, February 24th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.14.

ESAB Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE ESAB opened at $115.92 on Monday. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.69 and its 200-day moving average is $119.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.41%.

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.