ESAB Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:ESAB)

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

ESAB has a payout ratio of 5.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect ESAB to earn $5.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.9%.

ESAB Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ESAB traded down $1.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $122.12. 442,809 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,970. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. ESAB has a 52-week low of $82.44 and a 52-week high of $135.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. ESAB’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that ESAB will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ESAB has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.43.

ESAB Company Profile

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.