ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $117.93, but opened at $113.56. ESAB shares last traded at $116.74, with a volume of 14,650 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital raised their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.73.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of ESAB 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 directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of ESAB by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 629.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of ESAB by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.