Manchester Capital Management LLC Takes $216,000 Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in ESAB by 302.6% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ESAB by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter worth about $103,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESAB. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.63.

ESAB Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $96.92. 10,874 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,321. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.43. ESAB Co. has a 52-week low of $61.43 and a 52-week high of $114.77.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.93 million. ESAB had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.59%. ESAB’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.38%.

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.