Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $488,000 in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at $223,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 148,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,840,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after buying an additional 12,079 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of ESAB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $131.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.06. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESAB. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on ESAB from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

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.