Voleon Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 147.0%, now owning 7,577 shares worth approximately $1.43 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Lincoln Electric's earnings surpassed estimates, posting $2.60 earnings per share and $1.09 billion in revenue for the quarter, exceeding consensus estimates of $2.32 and $1.04 billion, respectively.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.2%.

Voleon Capital Management LP grew its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 147.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,577 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,510 shares during the quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price 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, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.5%

LECO traded down $3.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $239.13. 214,868 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,602. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business's 50 day moving average is $235.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.51. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $249.19. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,692 shares of company stock worth $5,511,918. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.