Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 463,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,967 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $87,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LECO. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.43.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $193.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.15.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.15%.

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.