Auxano Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Auxano Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in ESAB in the fourth quarter worth about $918,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $891,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 154,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,342,000 after buying an additional 7,682 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in ESAB by 202.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,828,000 after acquiring an additional 46,046 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in ESAB during the third quarter worth $2,062,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other ESAB news, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,352,437. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $741,125.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,361,918.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Didier P. Teirlinck sold 2,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $248,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,352,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,985. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.88. The company had a trading volume of 291,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,655. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.25. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $56.69 and a 1-year high of $114.77. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.54.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $689.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESAB. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.75.

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.