Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Invests $4.46 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 23,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,462,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $178.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $193.25 and a 200-day moving average of $213.48. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.