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

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of LECO stock traded up $2.39 on Wednesday, reaching $192.08. 206,487 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 325,388. Lincoln Electric has a 12-month low of $164.00 and a 12-month high of $261.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $190.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.