Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $73.79 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,582 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.70% of Lincoln Electric worth $73,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $3.00 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $220.72. The company had a trading volume of 148,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,286. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52. The stock has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business's 50 day moving average price is $198.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.