Primecap Management Co. CA Trims Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 44.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in ESAB were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in ESAB by 55.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in ESAB by 629.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Up 1.7 %

ESAB stock opened at $127.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.25. The company has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB Co. has a 52 week low of $76.08 and a 52 week high of $135.97. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.14.

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.