ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ESAB. Loop Capital upgraded shares of ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ESAB in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised ESAB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on ESAB in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on ESAB from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.33.

ESAB Stock Up 2.1%

ESAB stock opened at $114.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.20. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.23. ESAB has a twelve month low of $100.17 and a twelve month high of $135.85.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $727.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.57 million. ESAB had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. ESAB has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. ESAB’s payout ratio is 10.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $459,774.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in ESAB by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in ESAB by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in ESAB by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in ESAB by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.