Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stake Boosted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 46.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 121,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,368 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $23,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.4 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $213.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.52. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.