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

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $216.63.

LECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO opened at $229.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $248.63 and a 200-day moving average of $219.44. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $156.80 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,147.8% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% in the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.5% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,215,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at $222,000. 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.