Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 83,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $198.78 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $198.17 and a 200-day moving average of $196.49. The company has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

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.