Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $203.79 on Monday. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related 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 value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $247,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 142.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 8,061 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.3% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 21,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,604,000 after purchasing an additional 7,718 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 112.2% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 50,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,788,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.