Norges Bank Invests $354.06 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,707,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,063,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 216.1% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,184,000 after purchasing an additional 36,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth about $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,131,000 after buying an additional 3,658 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,187,000 after buying an additional 147,483 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,349,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LECO stock opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.04. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.83%.

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.