Parcion Private Wealth LLC Invests $269,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Parcion Private Wealth LLC invested approximately $269,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, acquiring 1,297 shares in the company during the second quarter.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.79, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Lincoln Electric, with Barclays increasing its target from $235.00 to $260.00 and Roth Capital setting a new target of $279.00.

Parcion Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,297 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth $209,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.93 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $238.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.64. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $249.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.20. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% 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. 2.63% of the stock is currently 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.

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