Distillate Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 72,187 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 72,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,617,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.3% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 21,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,604,000 after acquiring an additional 7,718 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,442,000 after purchasing an additional 25,082 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,479,000 after buying an additional 424,831 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,593,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,525,000 after buying an additional 27,989 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $187.28 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.29.

Lincoln Electric 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.