KeyCorp Issues Positive Forecast for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Price

Key Points

• KeyCorp has raised its price target for Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.30% based on the company's previous close.
• The latest analyst ratings show a mixed outlook for Lincoln Electric, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $228.60 from various research reports.
• Lincoln Electric reported a quarterly net margin of 11.44% and earnings per share of $2.60, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.32, along with year-over-year revenue growth of 6.6%.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) had its price objective upped by KeyCorp from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $1.70 on Friday, reaching $245.54. 369,235 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 352,841. The stock has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $246.83. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $212.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first 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 last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.