ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $88.03, but opened at $84.81. ESAB shares last traded at $83.4330, with a volume of 6,910 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ESAB. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of ESAB from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on ESAB from $148.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Roth Mkm set a $142.00 price target on ESAB in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of ESAB in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.88.

ESAB Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.01). ESAB had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 15.04%. The company had revenue of $745.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $706.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ESAB Corporation will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Friday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This is a boost from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. ESAB’s payout ratio is currently 11.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $7,353,621.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,362,164.56. This represents a 37.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ESAB

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in ESAB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ESAB during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in ESAB by 109.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in ESAB by 259.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in ESAB by 3,023.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

About ESAB

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company’s products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.