Financial Counselors Inc. Reduces Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $336,627,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,479,000 after purchasing an additional 424,831 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,578,000 after purchasing an additional 67,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth about $11,888,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $193.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $194.90 and a 200 day moving average of $217.57.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.43.

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.