2,071 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Purchased by Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc

Key Points

• Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, purchasing 2,071 shares valued at approximately $392,000 in the first quarter of the year.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed outlook on Lincoln Electric, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.40 for the stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.3%, set to be paid on October 15th.

Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,071 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $237.27 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $246.83. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $220.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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