Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $220.00.

LECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $207.51 on Friday. Lincoln Electric has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $193.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.63.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.89%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.