Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from “hold” to “buy,” adding to a broader wave of positive analyst sentiment around the stock.
• Several firms recently lifted their price targets, including Barclays to $300, KeyCorp to $340, and Robert W. Baird to $330, though the overall consensus rating remains “Hold.”
• Lincoln Electric reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 versus estimates of $2.42 and revenue of $1.12 billion, up 11.7% year over year.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $297.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.0%

LECO stock opened at $271.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $260.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.44. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $185.37 and a fifty-two week high of $310.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 114 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: LECO is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company's portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.

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