Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Buys 2,276 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 65.4%, owning 5,757 shares valued at $1,089,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Lincoln Electric, with KeyCorp increasing its target from $250.00 to $280.00, reflecting a bullish outlook on the stock.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, scheduled for payment on October 15th, yielding an annualized dividend of $3.00.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,276 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 3.0%

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $7.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $245.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 187,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,232. The company has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $246.83. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $224.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Lincoln Electric

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.