ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 616,500 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 652,700 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 276,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $119.94. 152,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,981. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $125.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. ESAB has a fifty-two week low of $82.44 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Evercore ISI downgraded ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began 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 research 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, ESAB has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. This trade represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ESAB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in ESAB by 55.9% during 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 period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 12,140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 629.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in ESAB during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.