King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers Stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in ESAB were worth $8,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in ESAB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in ESAB by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.14.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $125.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.80. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $88.54 and a 1-year high of $135.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. On average, equities research analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.41%.

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.