EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. Sells 514,829 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. has reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 20% during the first quarter, selling a total of 514,829 shares and holding approximately 2,057,581 shares as of the last reporting period.
• Lincoln Electric reported quarterly earnings of $2.60 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.32, and highlighted a 6.6% revenue increase year-over-year to $1.09 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, which will be paid on October 15th, equating to a 1.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 33.71%.

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 20.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,057,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 514,829 shares during the period. Lincoln Electric makes up 3.2% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. owned about 3.69% of Lincoln Electric worth $389,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 95.1% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 23,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 11,360 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 10,623 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,159 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,404,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $243.24. 335,422 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 342,137. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.32. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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