Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $206.40.

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,974,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of LECO stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $206.12. 291,877 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 317,316. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $191.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.27. Lincoln Electric has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $222.52. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.