ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Price Target Raised to $131.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $131.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 6.78% from the company’s previous close.

ESAB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

ESAB Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE ESAB traded down $1.10 on Friday, hitting $122.68. 29,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 205,983. The company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a 12 month low of $85.79 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.16 and a 200-day moving average of $111.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % 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 worth $8,431,773 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in ESAB in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in ESAB by 871.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 55.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in ESAB by 629.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.