Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.7 %

LECO stock opened at $213.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.16. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $201.37 and a 200-day moving average of $195.93.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.