Hancock Whitney Corp Raises Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,941 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in ESAB were worth $2,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in ESAB by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,538,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,118,000 after buying an additional 225,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,546,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,200,000 after acquiring an additional 20,741 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in ESAB by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,202,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,176,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in ESAB by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,097,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,018 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,888,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,529,000 after purchasing an additional 31,248 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $120.03 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $118.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.92. ESAB Co. has a 52 week low of $88.54 and a 52 week high of $135.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on ESAB from $125.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.75.

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.