Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,779,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,438,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,858,000. Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,858,000. Finally, Veratis Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,709,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. 124,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,812. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $268.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.38. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG 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.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Lincoln Electric Company 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.