Bayforest Capital Ltd Invests $279,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd invested $279,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, acquiring 1,347 shares, signaling strong interest from institutional investors.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their stakes in Lincoln Electric, with Geneos Wealth Management raising its position by 980.8% this quarter.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.79 per share, implying a yield of 1.3% for shareholders.

Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,347 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of LECO stock opened at $238.49 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $239.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Lincoln Electric

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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