MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Increases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 3.3% during the second quarter, owning approximately 0.17% of the company worth $19.13 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a $0.75 quarterly dividend to be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%.
• The company's stock has seen recent analyst upgrades, with targets raised to as high as $280, reflecting a strong outlook for Lincoln Electric moving forward.

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,962 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB owned about 0.17% of Lincoln Electric worth $19,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 51.2% in 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,582,000 after buying an additional 29,505 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 330,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,578,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $238.29. The company had a trading volume of 916,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,803. 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $236.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.66.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.