Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $9.26 Million Stock Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 77,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,257 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.13% of ESAB worth $9,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,001,000 after acquiring an additional 337,983 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in ESAB by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,081,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,989,000 after purchasing an additional 271,459 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 19.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,353,000 after purchasing an additional 190,583 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,110,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 6.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,512,000 after buying an additional 127,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESAB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. This trade represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ESAB Stock Down 0.1 %

ESAB opened at $123.99 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $83.21 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.03. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

ESAB Dividend Announcement

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

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.