ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $131.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.80% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

ESAB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESAB opened at $123.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $124.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.16. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.37. ESAB has a 12-month low of $85.79 and a 12-month high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $620.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. ESAB’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that ESAB will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $630,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. The trade was a 30.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESAB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESAB. Defender Capital LLC. grew its position in ESAB by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 24,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $216,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its position in ESAB by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 11,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in ESAB by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in ESAB by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

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.