ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) Shares Down 7.2% – Time to Sell?

ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) shares were down 7.2% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $67.27 and last traded at $66.6550. 142,122 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 685,024 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESAB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on ESAB in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of ESAB from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of ESAB from $141.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ESAB from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price target (down from $151.00) on shares of ESAB in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESAB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.57.

ESAB Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $807.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $755.64 million. ESAB had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 14.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. ESAB has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.400-5.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ESAB Corporation will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. ESAB’s payout ratio is presently 17.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $95,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ESAB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the second quarter valued at $524,533,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in ESAB in the 2nd quarter worth about $94,210,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in ESAB in the 4th quarter worth about $69,099,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,678,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,843,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Company Profile

ESAB Corporation (NYSE: ESAB) is a global provider of welding and cutting technologies. The company develops and manufactures equipment, consumable products and related solutions used to join, cut and protect metals in industrial, construction, infrastructure, transportation and other applications.

Its product portfolio includes welding systems, cutting machines, welding electrodes and wires, gas-control equipment, automation technologies, protective equipment and accessories. ESAB markets its products under brands that include ESAB, Victor, Tweco, Stoody and Thermal Dynamics, serving customers through direct sales, distributors and other channels.

The company traces its origins to 1904, when Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg developed a coated welding electrode.