Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 5,326 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Lafayette Investments Inc. cut its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,326 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. owned about 0.07% of ESAB worth $3,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in ESAB by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in ESAB by 28,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in ESAB in the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.76. 19,647 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 235,139. ESAB Co. has a 12-month low of $55.37 and a 12-month high of $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.13.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.06 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Rajiv Vinnakota sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $85,172.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher M. Hix sold 7,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total value of $741,125.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,863 shares in the company, valued at $3,361,918.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,833 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,985. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

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.