Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, boosting its holdings by 75.2% during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 10,782 shares valued at approximately $2.04 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported strong earnings, with $2.60 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing consensus estimates and demonstrating a 6.6% annual revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, set to be paid on October 15th, representing a 1.2% yield on an annualized basis.

Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 75.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,629 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 508,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,363,000 after buying an additional 115,813 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 393,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,823,000 after buying an additional 21,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 365,987 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,230,000 after buying an additional 7,656 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $244.10. 140,596 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 341,671. The company has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $231.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, 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 transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.