Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,086 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.11% of ESAB worth $7,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB in the second quarter worth $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 55.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 629.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in ESAB by 12,140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in ESAB in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESAB shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI cut shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ESAB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.43.

ESAB Price Performance

NYSE ESAB opened at $129.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. ESAB Co. has a 52-week low of $82.44 and a 52-week high of $135.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.50 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

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.