Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Trims Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV has reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 16.1% during the second quarter, now holding 21,453 shares valued at approximately $4.45 million.
• The company reported $2.60 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a 6.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.09 billion.
• Lincoln Electric has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 33.71%.

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,103 shares during the quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of LECO opened at $236.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. 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 50-day moving average price of $239.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.53.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.

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