WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 12.8% in Q2, owning approximately 0.08% of the company worth $9.63 million after additional purchases.
• Insiders sold a total of 23,692 shares of Lincoln Electric stock valued at around $5.75 million over the last ninety days, indicating a decrease in their positions.
• Lincoln Electric recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.79, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend and a yield of 1.3%.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,444 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,281 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Lincoln Electric worth $9,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after purchasing an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at about $28,548,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,187,000 after purchasing an additional 147,483 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 24.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 504,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $104,589,000 after purchasing an additional 98,920 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 576.6% in the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,913,000 after purchasing an additional 67,187 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm'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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $238.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 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.

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