Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 500 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 32.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in ESAB by 181.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in ESAB by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,321,000 after acquiring an additional 21,025 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESAB by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,827,000 after purchasing an additional 29,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the second quarter valued at about $92,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESAB Price Performance

ESAB stock opened at $129.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $82.44 and a 12 month high of $135.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.89.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI downgraded 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

Insider Transactions at ESAB

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.