Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Invests $261,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired 1,382 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., valued at approximately $261,000, during the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have a generally positive outlook with four analysts rating the stock as a Buy and an average price target of $239.33.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.60, exceeding expectations and marking a 6.6% revenue increase year-over-year.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,382 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth about $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.13. 214,868 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,400. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $235.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.50.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 22,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,511,918 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

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.