Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Makes New $1.58 Million Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,575,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $144,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 199,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,213,000 after buying an additional 15,745 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $5,586,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 6,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp upped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $212.00 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $202.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.42%. 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%.

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.