Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 174.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,578 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,155,000 after purchasing an additional 38,206 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 227,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,614,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $208.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $196.81 and its 200-day moving average is $197.07.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.89%.

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.