ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 622,800 shares, a decrease of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 669,300 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 241,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 167,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,031,000 after acquiring an additional 20,430 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $404,000. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $671,000. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in ESAB by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ESAB by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESAB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital increased their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ESAB from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock opened at $131.73 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.92 and its 200-day moving average is $115.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB has a 52 week low of $88.54 and a 52 week high of $135.97.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

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.