Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $1,125,000. Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,858,000. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $834,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of LECO opened at $217.54 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $200.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.01.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric 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.