LifeWealth Investments LLC Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• LifeWealth Investments LLC has acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, purchasing 1,058 shares valued at approximately $219,000.
• Insider selling includes the EVP selling 3,000 shares for about $726,540 and the CEO selling 12,387 shares for approximately $3 million, reflecting notable decreases in their ownership.
• Lincoln Electric recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.79, effective January 15th, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%.

LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying 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, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at about $209,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% 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. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. Five 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.50.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of LECO stock opened at $242.21 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $238.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.15. The company has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.51%.

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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