Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on LECO. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $193.71 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.11. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $164.63 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the first 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 during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.