Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 1,491 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 24.6%, now holding 4,559 shares valued at approximately $862,000.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its position by 22,146.5%, now owning 291,874 shares valued at $55.2 million, indicating strong investor interest in Lincoln Electric.
• Lincoln Electric plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share on October 15th, 2023, with a current yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 33.71%.

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,491 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,211,000 after acquiring an additional 290,562 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 188,104 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,548,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 137,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 576.6% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,913,000 after buying an additional 67,187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.9%

LECO traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $244.28. 64,645 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 339,604. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $234.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.04. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business'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 firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.