Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 144 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 17,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,240,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 25,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,599,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,093,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $188.64 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $208.15 and its 200 day moving average is $225.46.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.29.

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.