Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 339,975 shares valued at approximately $70.48 million.
• CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares, representing an 18.15% decrease in his ownership, while insiders have sold a total of 23,692 shares valued at over $5.74 million in the past 90 days.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75, yielding 1.3%, and recently reported earnings of $2.60 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 339,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 9,153 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.61% of Lincoln Electric worth $70,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $232.92 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $239.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.47. The company has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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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