Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $665,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board recently acquired 3,517 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO), valued at approximately $665,000.
• Several hedge funds have also increased their stakes in Lincoln Electric, with Victory Capital Management boosting its holdings by 16.2% in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Lincoln Electric show a mix of opinions, with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $231.40.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,524 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,910,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 24,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $231.40.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $243.90. 192,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 350,892. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $246.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The business's 50 day moving average is $218.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

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.