HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New $210,000 Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,122,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $336,627,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,578,000 after acquiring an additional 67,867 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,138,000 after acquiring an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.29.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $187.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $213.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.00 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.22 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.15%.

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.