Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,318,269 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,466 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.17% of ESAB worth $147,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in ESAB by 109.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in ESAB by 3,023.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 406 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in ESAB by 59.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ESAB. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut ESAB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $141.00 target price on ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on ESAB from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.88.

ESAB Stock Performance

NYSE:ESAB opened at $88.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. ESAB Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.17 and a 12-month high of $137.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.01). ESAB had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 7.11%.The business had revenue of $745.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $706.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.83%.

ESAB 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.