2,910 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Acquired by Martin Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Martin Capital Partners LLC has acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, purchasing 2,910 shares valued at approximately $603,000.
• Brokerage ratings for Lincoln Electric have been positive recently, with Stifel Nicolaus and KeyCorp raising their price objectives, indicating confidence in the stock's performance.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $2.60, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with revenue growth of 6.6% year-over-year.

Martin Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,910 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st 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. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st 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. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted 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. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Four 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, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $236.26. The stock had a trading volume of 194,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,405. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $236.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.36. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The stock has a market cap of $13.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given 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 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.