Heartland Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 46.2% during Q1, holding 40,086 shares valued at approximately $7.58 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Corient Private Wealth LLC and Sei Investments Co., also raised their stakes in Lincoln Electric, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reflecting a 1.32% yield based on its current share price.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,086 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 12,669 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,378 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 88.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:LECO traded down $2.87 on Tuesday, hitting $224.08. The stock had a trading volume of 235,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,371. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $228.65. The stock has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.60.

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.