Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.67.

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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 note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $217.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 8,061 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. Fiduciary Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 2,515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 200.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 65.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.