Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $211.40.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mariner Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,451,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 76,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,580 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $218.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 324,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,490. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $225.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $203.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm 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 earned $2.23 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

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.