Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,320 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,763,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on LECO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $2.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $209.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,389,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,684. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $222.52.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio 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.