Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 11,675 Shares of ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 60.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,675 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ESAB were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESAB. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in ESAB by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 51,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after buying an additional 11,772 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,616,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ESAB by 25.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 458,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,396,000 after acquiring an additional 94,335 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 109.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 183.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital upped their target price on shares of ESAB from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of ESAB from $148.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ESAB in a report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of ESAB in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of ESAB from $141.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Eight equities 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.38.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESAB opened at $92.34 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.19. ESAB Corporation has a one year low of $82.18 and a one year high of $137.42.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $745.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.74 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 7.11%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ESAB Corporation will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This is a positive change from ESAB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. ESAB’s payout ratio is 14.20%.

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.