Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,381,000 after buying an additional 4,770 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $925,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,479,000 after acquiring an additional 424,831 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,525,000 after purchasing an additional 27,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,377,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $185.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $205.01 and a 200 day moving average of $224.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.00 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Company 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.