Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Purchased by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $326,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,955,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $121,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.60.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $185.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $202.80 and its 200-day moving average is $195.79. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.