Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (LECO) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 28th

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.71 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th.

Lincoln Electric has increased its dividend by an average of 9.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. Lincoln Electric has a payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lincoln Electric to earn $10.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.6%.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $238.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $248.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.94. Lincoln Electric has a 12-month low of $155.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth about $210,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.