Empowered Funds LLC Invests $1.56 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Empowered Funds LLC purchased 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 SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,878 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $656,165,000 after buying an additional 5,354,141 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $1,677,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $415,155,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 23.2% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,257 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,005,000 after purchasing an additional 12,093 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $313,175,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.0%

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.38. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.22 and a fifty-two week high of $310.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LECO. UBS Group began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Lincoln Electric from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $307.22.

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.