CNB Bank Grows Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

CNB Bank lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $2,110,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $925,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of LECO stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $238.36. 214,625 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,340. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.94. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.