Kera Capital Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,646 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Kera Capital Partners Inc. invested $341,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, purchasing 1,646 shares during the second quarter, according to a recent Form 13F filing.
• Insider transactions included sales by EVP Gabriel Bruno and CEO Steven B. Hedlund, with the two executives selling a combined total of 19,692 shares worth approximately $4.78 million.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Lincoln Electric's stock rating, with a consensus target price of $239.33 and several analysts rating it as a "Strong-Buy."

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 16.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 51.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 137,330 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,656 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,582,000 after purchasing an additional 29,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 330,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock traded down $4.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.44. 158,293 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 339,183. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. The stock has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $236.37 and its 200 day moving average is $208.36.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

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.