Comerica Bank Has $15.80 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 2.9% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.15% of the company valued at $15.8 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, with a dividend yield of 1.2%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Lincoln Electric, with recent upgrades including a change to a "strong-buy" rating from Wall Street Zen and varying price targets set by different firms.

Comerica Bank grew its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,509 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,338 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.15% of Lincoln Electric worth $15,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,118,000 after acquiring an additional 334,582 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,211,000 after acquiring an additional 290,562 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after acquiring an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $28,548,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 405,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $76,715,000 after acquiring an additional 137,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $2.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $242.63. 263,222 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 344,221. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $227.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.97. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $249.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Lincoln Electric 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.