Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives $216.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $216.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $499,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $121,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,955,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded down $0.73 on Friday, reaching $182.77. The stock had a trading volume of 285,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,902. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $238.47. The company has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.29 and a 200-day moving average of $196.04.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.