ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded ESAB from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on ESAB from $142.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on ESAB from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ESAB from $130.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $94.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. ESAB has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $137.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.38 and its 200-day moving average is $115.80.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. ESAB had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 7.98%.The firm had revenue of $687.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. ESAB’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that ESAB will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total value of $7,353,621.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,864 shares in the company, valued at $12,362,164.56. This represents a 37.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in ESAB by 8.3% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 168,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,847,000 after purchasing an additional 12,894 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 716,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,051,000 after acquiring an additional 159,539 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in ESAB by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 26,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 9,608 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in ESAB by 82.1% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 39,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 17,911 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 5.9% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,043,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,385,000 after purchasing an additional 114,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Company Profile

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company’s products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.