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

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 697,800 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the December 31st total of 616,500 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 281,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ESAB shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital increased their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ESAB from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in ESAB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its stake in ESAB by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in ESAB by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $3.54 on Monday, hitting $120.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 146,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,702. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $87.00 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $123.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.49%.

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.