Vest Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 31.9% during the second quarter, owning a total of 15,846 shares valued at approximately $3.29 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Geneos Wealth Management and Brooklyn Investment Group, have made significant increases in their holdings, contributing to the fact that institutional investors own 79.61% of Lincoln Electric's stock.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with a yield of 1.3%, set to be paid on October 15th to shareholders of record.

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 31.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,836 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" 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 for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock opened at $236.80 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $239.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.63. The firm has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.

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