Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Purchased by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 24.4%, owning about 504,479 shares valued at approximately $104.59 million.
• Lincoln Electric reported $2.60 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.32, with revenues of $1.09 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 30th, representing a 1.3% dividend yield.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 504,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 98,920 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.90% of Lincoln Electric worth $104,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $236.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $249.19. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.33.

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.

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