KeyCorp Issues Positive Forecast for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Price

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at KeyCorp from $230.00 to $245.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LECO traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $215.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 247,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,306. 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 has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.36 and a 200 day moving average of $195.82.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $65,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lincoln Electric

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.