First National Advisers LLC Invests $353,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC acquired 1,865 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, valued at approximately $353,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with a yield of 1.32%, scheduled for payment on October 15th.
• Recently, various analysts revised their ratings and price targets for Lincoln Electric, with an average target price now set at $222.60 and the overall rating being "Hold."

First National Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,865 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $222.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 9.2%

LECO stock traded up $20.50 on Thursday, hitting $243.83. 497,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,284. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $244.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business's fifty day moving average is $209.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.29. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

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.