Sovereign s Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 9,450 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,450 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,772,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,118,000 after purchasing an additional 334,582 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $194.41. The stock had a trading volume of 205,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,703. The company has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.96 and a 200 day moving average of $195.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. 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 earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.17.

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.