Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Given New $178.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $220.00 to $178.00 in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company's stock.

LECO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $177.38. 236,439 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,308. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $193.18 and its 200-day moving average is $196.78. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $242.65.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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.