Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with one sell, one hold, and five buy ratings among the seven research firms covering the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.79 per share, up from $0.75, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%.
• Lincoln Electric's stock opened at $242.21 and has a market cap of $13.37 billion, with a recent 1.4% increase in share price.

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $243.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $323,167,000 after purchasing an additional 83,035 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after acquiring an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth about $141,550,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $123,691,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $242.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $238.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.15. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric 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%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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