Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Raised to $216.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $195.00 to $216.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.17.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $203.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.79. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.