StockNews.com Downgrades Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) to Hold

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

LECO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price target 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. KeyCorp lowered their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.29.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $175.06 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 21,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,604,000 after acquiring an additional 7,718 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,442,000 after purchasing an additional 25,082 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 424,831 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,593,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,525,000 after buying an additional 27,989 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.