Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $220.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $217.54 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $200.77 and a 200-day moving average of $196.01.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

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.