Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 110,893 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 19.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 463,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110,893 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $87,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,253 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth about $4,462,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.3% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,056 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $185.45 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.75.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.29.

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.