Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys New Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $10,820,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.07% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,431,181,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $956,360,000 after buying an additional 3,824,077 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth about $52,700,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,811,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of LECO stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $259.80. 124,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.22 and a 52-week high of $310.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $268.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Lincoln Electric from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: LECO is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.