Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Corebridge Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,293 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,891 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in ESAB were worth $7,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter worth $52,281,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 839,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,712,000 after purchasing an additional 428,770 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,900,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,001,000 after purchasing an additional 337,983 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ESAB by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,353,000 after purchasing an additional 190,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESAB by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,196,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,512,000 after purchasing an additional 127,714 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESAB Stock Down 0.5 %

ESAB opened at $119.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.85 and its 200 day moving average is $119.36. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.43 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 7.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI raised ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ESAB in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.14.

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.