Invesco Ltd. Sells 256,702 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22.6%, selling 256,702 shares and now holding approximately 1.57% of the company's stock, valued at $166.24 million.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, with a current annualized yield of 1.3%.
• Shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ: LECO) have traded at a 1-year range of $161.11 to $246.83 and reported earnings of $2.60 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 22.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 878,839 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 256,702 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.57% of Lincoln Electric worth $166,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $1.6250 on Tuesday, hitting $239.7250. The stock had a trading volume of 25,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,377. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $246.83. The business's 50 day moving average is $221.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for 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%.The firm'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 earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LECO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric 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.