Cwm LLC Purchases 13,978 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Cwm LLC significantly increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 480%, acquiring an additional 13,978 shares to total 16,890 shares, valued at $3.5 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Lincoln Electric, with Roth Capital setting a target of $279 and KeyCorp adjusting theirs from $250 to $280, reflecting a generally positive sentiment toward the stock.
• Lincoln Electric announced a dividend increase to $0.79 per share, with plans for payment on January 15, 2024, signifying growing investor confidence and a solid payout ratio of 35.51%.

Cwm LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 480.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,890 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 13,978 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during 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 period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,521 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued 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 for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $235.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.44. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 35.51%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.