Stephens Inc. AR Sells 3,414 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 45,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,414 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in ESAB were worth $5,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESAB. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Defender Capital LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 24,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ESAB by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 11,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in ESAB by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESAB shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.57.

ESAB Stock Up 0.0 %

ESAB stock opened at $122.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $87.12 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.49%.

ESAB 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.