Acadian Asset Management LLC Increases Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 2,277.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 93,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,826 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ESAB were worth $10,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESAB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ESAB by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,578,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,724,000 after buying an additional 63,948 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 169.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in ESAB by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in ESAB by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at $918,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE ESAB traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.78. The company had a trading volume of 181,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,650. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.46 and its 200 day moving average is $98.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.01. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.43 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.43.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $690.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.93 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. ESAB’s payout ratio is 8.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer started coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.38.

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.