Short Interest in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) Grows By 13.5%

ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 902,100 shares, a growth of 13.5% from the May 31st total of 795,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 275,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ESAB from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.63.

ESAB Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.22. The stock had a trading volume of 195,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,284. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.63. ESAB has a 52-week low of $61.43 and a 52-week high of $114.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.09. ESAB had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $690.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. ESAB’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that ESAB will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 8.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESAB

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in ESAB by 302.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in ESAB during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in ESAB by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in ESAB by 23.4% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% 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.