Oak Associates Ltd. OH Increases Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Oak Associates Ltd. OH lifted its stake in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 4.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH’s holdings in ESAB were worth $942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in ESAB by 302.6% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the first quarter worth $35,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of ESAB by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in ESAB during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Trading Up 1.2 %

ESAB stock opened at $98.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.86. ESAB Co. has a one year low of $61.43 and a one year high of $114.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $98.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.26.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. ESAB had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $707.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $686.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESAB. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on ESAB from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ESAB from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.57.

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.