ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Short Interest Up 13.2% in December

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,800 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the December 15th total of 616,500 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 281,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

ESAB Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ESAB opened at $123.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a 52-week low of $83.21 and a 52-week high of $135.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.15. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The business had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that ESAB will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In related news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. This trade represents a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in ESAB by 6.2% in the 3rd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,692,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,028,000 after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 19.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,353,000 after acquiring an additional 190,583 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 33.5% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital upped their price objective on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI downgraded ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Company 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.