Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 500 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its holdings in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in ESAB were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 181.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,321,000 after acquiring an additional 21,025 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,827,000 after purchasing an additional 29,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $129.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. 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 one year low of $82.44 and a one year high of $135.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.33 and a 200 day moving average of $106.89.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last released its quarterly 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. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company’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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded 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. Evercore ISI cut ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.43.

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.