Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $216.63.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth $26,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $229.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $248.63 and its 200 day moving average is $219.44. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $156.80 and a twelve month high of $261.13. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

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.