Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $218.29.

LECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of LECO opened at $187.48 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $164.00 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the first quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.