Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on LECO. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $192.20 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.