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

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 541,000 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 428,600 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 248,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at ESAB

In related news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $248,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,352,437. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,361,918.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at $3,352,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock worth $1,074,985 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 23.4% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 28,250.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.75.

ESAB Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE ESAB traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.83. 291,341 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 235,947. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.54. ESAB has a 52-week low of $56.69 and a 52-week high of $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.25.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $689.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.51 million. ESAB had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 17.57%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

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.