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

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 405,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 58,206 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $77,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,458,387,000 after purchasing an additional 15,062 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,129,000 after buying an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,155,000 after buying an additional 38,206 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $213.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.92. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.89%.

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.