Brokerages Set Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Target Price at $221.67

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $221.67.

A number of brokerages have commented on LECO. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,458,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,129,000 after buying an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,155,000 after buying an additional 38,206 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $214.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $192.39 and a 200 day moving average of $197.47. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

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.