Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.75.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $199.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $199.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,155,000 after buying an additional 38,206 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.